More than $47 million in grants, programs and projects focused on
health-improvement

Company Website:
http://www.wellpoint.com
INDIANAPOLIS -- (Business Wire)
As one of the nation’s largest health benefits companies, WellPoint is
committed to improving the lives of the people it serves and the health
of American communities. In 2012, the company, its foundation and
associates advanced this mission by directing millions of dollars and
more than 14,000 hours to nonprofit organizations, events and programs
working to address some of the nation’s most pressing health needs.
“Creating healthier futures for children, adults and seniors is at the
core of everything we do,” said Lance Chrisman, executive director of
the WellPoint Foundation. “Through formal and informal programs,
WellPoint and the WellPoint Foundation support organizations and
programs across the United States making improvements in health. These
efforts are strengthened by the generosity of WellPoint’s more than
36,000 associates who make donations of their time and their charitable
dollars throughout the year.”
WellPoint’s charitable and community-focused activities are conducted
through four primary channels: WellPoint Foundation grants; an annual
Community Service Day; the WellPoint Associate Giving Campaign; and
community sponsorships. Together, these activities total more than $47
million in current and ongoing community support.
WellPoint Foundation Grants
Through its Healthy Generations grant program, the WellPoint Foundation
works to identify the issues most in need of attention and then focuses
its grant work on improving health in those areas. As a result, $25
million in open and active grants from the WellPoint Foundation are
supporting nonprofit organizations and programs at the local, regional
and national levels.
Major grant activities of the WellPoint Foundation in 2012 include:
- American Cancer Society – Patient Navigator Program: A $1.5
million grant to support the Patient Navigator Program in 14 states.
The program creates one-on-one relationships between newly diagnosed
patients and trained Patient Navigators, who provide information,
support and personal guidance throughout a cancer experience.
- American Heart Association – Hands-Only CPR Campaign: Kickoff
of a three-year, $4.5 million grant to support the Hands-Only CPR
educational campaign and mobile training tour to educate millions of
Americans about this lifesaving CPR technique that does not require
mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing. Nearly 400,000 Americans suffer
out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year, and almost 90 percent die
because they don’t get immediate CPR. The educational campaign and
training tour are working to provide American’s with the skills they
need to feel confident and respond should a cardiac situation occur.
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) – Triple Play: Year
two of a three year, $5 million grant to strengthen and expand BGCA’s
proven wellness program, Triple Play. A recent study of more than
2,000 children ages 9-14 who attend Boys & Girls Clubs showed that
Triple Play succeeded in getting them to exercise more, eat healthier
foods and feel better about themselves. Triple Play kids increased to
90 percent of the federally recommended amount of daily exercise,
which is 60 minutes a day for children, while their peers outside the
program decreased to 78 percent.
- OASIS Institute – CATCH Healthy Habits: The conclusion of a two
year, $2.7 million grant to greatly expand CATCH Healthy Habits, a
unique intergenerational program which pairs adults age 50-plus with
children to encourage healthier eating and physical activity. Results
have shown both the youth and adult volunteers both benefit from the
health-focused activities and programming.
Throughout its grant activities, the WellPoint Foundation places an
emphasis on measurable outcomes to ensure that programs receiving
funding are truly making a difference. In 2012, this approach was
further validated, as two organizations supported by the WellPoint
Foundation received recognition for their effectiveness from
third-parties and industry experts:
- Health Literacy Wisconsin: Received a 2012 Leonard G. Doak
Health Literacy Innovator Award from Health Literacy Innovations for
its “Let’s Talk About the Flu” program in the ReadsEasy Publication
Award category. A $75,000 grant from the WellPoint Foundation’s local
foundation in Wisconsin helped Health Literacy Wisconsin reach more
than 940 adults during the 2011-2012 flu season.
- OASIS Institute: The CATCH Healthy Habits program was named a
Program of Distinction by Generations United, a national organization
focused on promoting life-improving intergenerational programs and
policies, and the OASIS Institute was named to the Social Impact
Exchange S&I 100, a list that recognizes nonprofits offering
innovative solutions and proven results.
Community Service Day
On April 28, 2012, more than 3,500 WellPoint associates, friends and
family members volunteered at 170 nonprofit organizations across the
country to make a lasting impact and improve health. The company’s
associates planted 202 trees, sorted 48,260 pounds of food for
distribution, beautified 56 acres of land, engaged with 750 seniors and
children, and made countless other contributions to the individuals and
organizations they volunteered to serve in their local community.
“Many of our associates regularly volunteer, but we are proud to bring
the full strength and spirit of our company together once a year for an
extra special day of projects,” said Chrisman. “Best of all, in many
cases, the new connections our associates make with the local nonprofits
continue long after the conclusion of the event.”
Community Service Day projects benefited a variety of local
organizations and resources, including food banks, parks and community
shelters.
Annual Associate Giving Campaign
Each year, WellPoint associates have the opportunity to make pledges and
one-time donations to health-focused charities through the company’s
Associate Giving Campaign. The campaign allows WellPoint associates to
not only select which of the eligible charities they wanted to support,
but also to direct their gifts to thousands of local chapters and
affiliated charities within the campaign’s charities. Associate
contributions are backed by a 50 percent match from the WellPoint
Foundation – increasing the impact of each dollar contributed. As a
result, more than $6.7 million was paid out to the campaign’s six
charities in 2012: American Cancer Society, American Red Cross,
Community Health Charities, Feeding America, St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital, and United Way.
Community Sponsorships
WellPoint and its affiliated health plans also support events and
community organizations across the country focused on improving the
health and well-being of local communities. This often takes the form of
both formal and informal sponsorships, including support for run-walks,
contributions to food and clothing drives, and support for school-based
programs. Beneficiaries of this support include organizations such as:
American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung
Association, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and local YMCAs.
The ongoing efforts of WellPoint and the WellPoint Foundation have been
recognized by leading organizations. Most recently, in December 2012,
WellPoint Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of America received the
“Best Partnership” award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Business
Civic Leadership Center (BCLC). In addition to the BCLC award, in 2012
the company and its foundation received: Gold Stevie Award for Corporate
Social Responsibility; Excellence in Employee Giving and Excellence
in Philanthropy awards from the American Cancer Society; Workplace
Giving Partner of the Year award from St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital; and a PR News Corporate Social Responsibility award for the
annual WellPoint Community Service Day. The WellPoint Foundation is also
a member of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, in
recognition of its continued support of the nonprofits’ disaster relief
efforts.
“It’s a true honor to work with so many outstanding organizations and we
thank them for all they are doing to improve health and transform
lives,” Chrisman said. “We look forward to continuing to find ways to
enhance the effectiveness of our efforts, and look forward to working
with health-focused organizations in year ahead to create brighter
futures and positively impact the health of our country.”
About WellPoint, Inc.
At WellPoint, we believe there is an important connection between our
members’ health and well-being—and the value we bring our customers and
shareholders. So each day we work to improve the health of our members
and their communities. And, we can make a real difference since we have
more than 36 million people in our affiliated health plans, and nearly
67 million people served through our subsidiaries. As an independent
licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves
members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and
Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana,
Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City
area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield
licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and
as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate
counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs
of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these service
areas, WellPoint’s plans do business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue
Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire
Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Empire Blue Cross (in the New York service
areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as
UniCare and in certain markets through our Amerigroup and CareMore
subsidiaries. Our 1-800 CONTACTS, Inc. subsidiary offers customers
online sales of contact lenses, eyeglasses and other ocular products.
Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.
About WellPoint Foundation
The WellPoint Foundation is the philanthropic arm of WellPoint, Inc. and
through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes
the inherent commitment of WellPoint, Inc. to enhance the health and
well-being of individuals and families in communities that WellPoint,
Inc. and its affiliated health plans serve. The Foundation focuses its
funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative
solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy
Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets
specific disease states and medical conditions. These disease states and
medical conditions include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low
birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that
decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in
adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and
smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s annual
associate giving campaign and provides a 50 percent match of associates’
campaign pledges. To learn more about the WellPoint Foundation, please
visit www.wellpointfoundation.org,
as well as its Tumblr blog at http://wellpointfoundation.tumblr.com.
Contacts:
WellPoint, Inc.
Scott Larrivee, 262-523-4746
scott.larrivee@wellpoint.com
Twitter:
@WellPointFDN_PR
Source: WellPoint, Inc.
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