Georgia's Youth Receives a $323,392 Grant From Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia to Exercise Their Minds, Bodies and Souls

/PRNewswire/ -- As a part of its ongoing work to address childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles in Georgia, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) today announced a three-year, $323,392 grant from its corporate foundation to Boys &Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) which will support the organization's proven health and wellness program, Triple Play, at local Clubs throughout the state.

Created by BGCA in 2005 with founding sponsor Coca-Cola, Triple Play: A Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul encourages Club members to eat healthier (mind), become more physically active (body) and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships (soul). To date, more than one million young people have participated in the program.

"We are truly committed to improving the lives of the people we serve and the health of our communities and Boys & Girls Clubs of America shares that commitment," said Morgan Kendrick, president, BCBSGa. "Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia is proud to support the Triple Play program because we know that if we give our kids a healthy start, they can hopefully avoid life-long health issues and spend their time achieving their dreams."

The Georgia-focused funds are part of a $5 million grant from the parent company's Foundation, which will support Triple Play programming in all 50 states and several Triple Play-related initiatives in 2011. These include an attempt to break a physical activity-related Guinness World Record and helping Club families get healthy through the second annual Triple Play Fit Family Challenge.

Boys & Girls Club of America estimates that the grant will benefit more than 1,620 youth throughout Georgia.

"Too many children are not eating smart and getting the proper amount of exercise," said Wayne Moss, senior director, Sports, Fitness & Recreation, BGCA. "Our Triple Play program directly addresses this issue by teaching kids fun ways to stay active, setting the stage for a lifetime of healthy habits."

Triple Play is proven to improve lifestyles and behaviors. A two year study of more than 2,000 children ages 9-14 showed that Triple Play succeeded in getting them to exercise more, eat healthier foods and feel better about themselves. The study found that 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.

The grant is an important part of BCBSGa's commitment to addressing health disparities and improving public health throughout the state. Through its State Health Index – a compilation of public health measures – the health plan continually works to identify the issues most in need of attention and directs its charitable support and volunteer efforts toward improving health in those areas.

"The State Health Index truly guides and shapes our work throughout Georgia," said Robert McCormack, medical director for BCBSGa. "By tracking our progress year-over-year we are working to make sure that the programs we support and the fine work of our non-profit partners really is improving health."

"The short- and long-term dangers associated with childhood obesity bring special importance to our work with Boys & Girls Club of America. We are excited to partner with our local Clubs to help them to head off one of the country's most pressing health challenges," McCormack continued.

More information about the Triple Play program is available at www.bgca.org/tripleplay.

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WellPoint Foundation Awards $5 Million Grant to Develop National Partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to Combat Childhood Obesity

/PRNewswire/ -- The WellPoint Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) have something strong in common when it comes to the wellness of children – the belief that living a healthy lifestyle today provides a pathway to a great future. It's this belief that spurs today's announcement that the WellPoint Foundation has signed on as a national partner of BGCA. The Foundation joins the organization as co-sponsor of BGCA's Triple Play program, along with founding sponsor Coca-Cola.

Triple Play: A Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul is BGCA's proven health and wellness program. It was created in 2005 to encourage Club members to eat healthier (mind), become more physically active (body) and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships (soul). To date, more than one million young people have participated in the program.

The WellPoint Foundation, the philanthropic arm of WellPoint, Inc., has committed $5 million over three years to support Triple Play. The foundation's funding represents its largest grant in its 10-year history and will bring the program to more communities and support several of BGCA's Triple Play-related initiatives in 2011. These include an attempt to break a physical activity-related Guinness World Record and helping Club families get healthy through the second annual Triple Play Fit Family Challenge.

"As champions of youth health promotion, we recognize that reducing childhood obesity rates lowers the risk for many preventable diseases," said Lance Chrisman, executive director of the WellPoint Foundation. "By aggressively targeting youth and families through Triple Play, we strive to instill life-long healthy habits at an early age – before bad habits set in."

Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of BGCA, added, "America is faced with challenges when it comes to the health and well being of our young people. Thanks to the support of the WellPoint Foundation and the continued support of Coca-Cola, Boys &; Girls Clubs are continuing to make a positive impact on improving the health of the more than four million young people we serve."

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Fayette Senior Services Awarded Subaru “Share the Love” Grant

Funds to Help Feed Seniors in Need this Holiday Season

Fayette Senior Services has been awarded $500 from the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA)/Subaru “Share the Love” grant program. The MOWAA/Subaru “Share the Love” grant is tied to Subaru’s Share the Love Event.  The Share the Love Event will run from November 20, 2010 – January 3, 2011. Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased to the customer's choice of one of five charities, including MOWAA.The winning essay, which follows this news release, describes how our volunteers go the extra mile to help those in need.

The next phase of this competition relies on getting the most Facebook users to “Like” this story.  More than 140 “Share the Love” essays from programs across the country have been posted on MOWAA’s Member blog.   The Meals On Wheels program with the most “Likes” will win an additional $500. Those placing 2nd through 10th will receive an additional $250. To “Like” the local essay submitted for this Facebook contest, go to mowaablog.org and search “Fayette Senior Services.”

For more than 30 years, Fayette Senior Services Meals On Wheels program has ensured that no senior in Fayette County goes hungry, or is without the ability to have proper nutrition. Each year, a team of dedicated volunteers deliver more than 40,000 meals to more than 250 homebound and semi-homebound older adults throughout Fayette County. Many suffer from health conditions that make preparing a hot, nutritious meal difficult. Good nutrition is essential to anyone’s well-being, yet for many seniors who live on a limited source of income, maintaining a healthy diet is a challenge.

“These Meals On Wheels programs share love every day by bringing food and companionship to America’s hungry seniors,” said MOWAA President and CEO Enid Borden. “For the third year in a row Subaru has generously included Meals On Wheels in its Share the Love Event. We want the world to read these stories and find out more about what these amazing Meals On Wheels programs do every day to ‘Share the Love’ in their communities.”
The funds will be included in Fayette Senior Services goal to raise $30,000 for its annual Project Love Holiday Meal Campaign. By contributing to Project Love, individuals can help Fayette Senior Services provide holiday meals throughout the year. Proceeds from the campaign will also be used to purchase doctor prescribed Ensure® supple­ments for clients with special dietary needs, as well as “shelf meals” that seniors can have on hand in the event a meal cannot be delivered to them due to extreme weather conditions. So far, the Project Love campaign has raised just over $10,000. If you would like to make a donation visit www.FayetteLifeEnrichment.org and click on the Project Love logo to download a printable form or make an online donation. Donation forms are also available at Fayette Senior Services Life Enrichment Center, 4 Center Drive in Fayetteville (across from the Fayette County Justice Center). Checks should be made payable to Fayette Senior Services, Inc.

“This is the season of giving and we are so thankful that Subaru has decided to give back to our Meals On Wheels program said Fayette Senior Services Executive Director, Debbie Britt. Britt adds “As a non-profit organization, we receive some government funding for the Meals On Wheels program; however, these funds don’t quite cover the cost of the regular weekly meals and make no provision for holiday meals. When you consider this, you can see why this grant, and the community’s support for our Project Love campaign are truly meaningful gifts. Our homebound seniors who depend on us for weekly meals certainly deserve a little extra love and support this holiday season and throughout the year.”

Fayette Senior Services, Inc. (FSS), a non-profit, 501.c.3 organization, provides services that help Fayette County’s older adults maintain their independence and improve their quality of life. Programs include Meals on Wheels, Transportation, In-Home Personal Care/Homemaker Services, Case Management, Adult Day Care, Information & Assistance, and Home Repair. For active older adults, Fayette Senior Services Life Enrichment Center offers a wide variety of social, leisure, fitness and recreational activities, the Ultimate Café, and more! FSS programs are focused on total wellness – body, mind, and spirit – to help older adults live well and age well.
About Meals On Wheels Association of America. The Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is the oldest and largest national organization in the United States representing those programs that provide meals to people in need.  MOWAA’s mission is to end senior hunger by 2020.  To obtain more information about MOWAA or to locate a local Meals On Wheels program, visit the MOWAA website at www.mowaa.org.

Fayette Senior Services Meals On Wheels Winning Essay

The holiday season is a time when most of us share the love with our family and friends. Meals On Wheels shares the love with our local seniors who would otherwise be all alone and hungry during the holidays.  It’s only fitting that we are partnering with our friends at Subaru for the third year in a row for their “Share the Love” Event to raise funds to support Meals On Wheels. This is just one story of how we share the love here in our community.

Louise was legally blind but insisted on staying in her own home instead of going to assisted living. For Louise, whose only close relative lived in North Carolina, this was challenging. With the help of our Meals On Wheels volunteers, who have done much more than deliver a meal for the past 9 years, Louise was able to stay in her home. They took her in as family ensuring that she had rides to church and shopping, got her mail, and took her garbage out, along with other household chores.  Every Thanksgiving, a Meals On Wheels volunteer invited her to dinner with his family. Louise would then call another volunteer to take her to the store to buy something for that dinner.  The volunteers formed a network to make sure Louise was being cared for in every possible way. She always said “I couldn’t have stayed in my home without the help of Meals On Wheels and all the volunteers.” Unfortunately, Louise took a fall and had to move into assisted living in North Carolina near her sister. Shortly after moving, Louise passed away. We were saddened by her death, but her “family” of volunteers had shared their love, which had helped her maintain the independence she loved so much.
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MetLife Foundation Announces Grants to Twelve Local Food Banks

/PRNewswire/ -- MetLife Foundation today announced grants to twelve food banks. The grants, which total $450,000, will help the food banks respond to increased needs in local communities around the country. Since December 2008, MetLife Foundation has contributed $900,000 to food banks nationwide.

"Food banks and their partners play a critical role in meeting the needs of communities' most vulnerable residents - children, older adults, and the economically disadvantaged," said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "We are pleased to support their work, which is vital to community health and well-being."

The food banks receiving MetLife Foundation grants are:
-- Atlanta Community Food Bank (Atlanta, Ga.)
-- Community FoodBank of New Jersey (Hillside, N.J.)
-- Feeding America Tampa Bay (Tampa, Fla.)
-- The Foodbank, Inc. (Dayton, Ohio)
-- Food Bank of Central New York (East Syracuse, N.Y.)
-- Food Bank for New York City (New York, N.Y.)
-- Foodshare, Inc. (Bloomfield, Conn.)
-- Greater Boston Food Bank (Boston, Mass.)
-- North Texas Food Bank (Dallas, Texas)
-- Northern Illinois Food Bank (St. Charles, Ill.)
-- Rhode Island Community Food Bank (Providence, R.I.)
-- St. Louis Area Food Bank (St. Louis, Mo.)


MetLife Foundation was established by MetLife in 1976 to carry on its longstanding tradition of contributions and community involvement. Grants support health, education, civic and cultural programs. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.

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Sodexo's 'Feeding Our Future®' Program Provides 13,000 Summer Lunches to Atlanta Children

/PRNewswire/ -- Leveraging a $20,000 "Feeding Our Future®" grant from the Sodexo Foundation, the Sodexo account at UPS Headquarters and The Coca-Cola Company celebrated serving 13,000 free lunches to Atlanta's children. Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young acknowledged volunteers for their efforts during a special barbeque held for city youth yesterday at the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA. Sodexo's Feeding Our Future program provides school children who rely on free and reduced-price meals during the academic year with nutritious lunches during the summer break.

"With nearly one in four children living in households that find it increasingly difficult to put food on the table, there are bound to be additional challenges when the school doors close for the summer," said Stephen J. Brady, president of the Sodexo Foundation. "As the leading food service provider to public schools throughout this country, we understand the needs that exist and we are determined to make a positive impact that leads to the elimination of hunger in this country."

Every day, an estimated 17 million U.S. children rely on school breakfast and lunch programs as their only guaranteed meals. When schools shut down for the summer, federal meal programs feed only about three million, leaving 13 million children at risk for hunger. To help bridge this gap, the Sodexo Foundation, the independent charitable organization of Sodexo, Inc., has provided free lunches to children through its summer feeding program, Feeding Our Future, since 1997. The Sodexo Foundation provides grants to local Sodexo accounts to purchase food for the meals and local Sodexo employees prepare the meals each day.

In addition to Atlanta, Feeding Our Future will be providing more than 300,000 summer lunches in 19 other cities in the United States: Boston, Mass., Buffalo, N.Y., Camden, N.J., Chattanooga, Tenn., Chicago, Ill., Denver, Colo., Detroit, Mich., Fort Worth, Texas, Honolulu, Hawaii, Houston, Texas, Los Angeles, Calif., Miami, Fla., New York, N.Y., Oklahoma City, Okla., San Jose, Calif., St. Cloud, Minn., St. Louis, Mo., Terre Haute, Ind. and Washington, D.C.

Feeding Our Future is a program of the Sodexo Foundation, an independent charitable organization supporting hunger-related initiatives that focus on eliminating the root causes of hunger in the U.S. Sodexo pays all administrative costs of the Foundation to ensure that all money raised is directed to those in need.

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation Awards $25,000 to March of Dimes Helping Georgia's Babies Get a Healthy Start in Life

/PRNewswire/ -- Pregnant women in Georgia will receive critical prenatal services and education from the March of Dimes, thanks to a $25,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGA)'s Foundation a private, nonprofit organization wholly funded by BCBSGA's parent company's Foundation.

"This grant will help women have healthy babies by educating them about the importance of good health choices," said Joanne Patterson, March of Dimes Programs Committee Chair. "It's important for women who are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant to use this time to educate themselves on how to have a healthy, full-term baby."

The March of Dimes Georgia Chapter will receive $25,000 from the BCBSGA Foundation to fund local sites for Centering Pregnancy- a model of prenatal care that includes three main components (assessment, education and support) in a group setting. One of the local March of Dimes Centering Pregnancy grants will partially fund the Southwest Public Health District's, Due What's Best project in Albany, GA. The Centering Pregnancy grant will expand access to early prenatal care for low income rural African American women.

Centering Pregnancy has proven to help reduce prematurity rates, increase breastfeeding rates and significantly improve patient satisfaction. Group prenatal care encourages pregnant women to adopt healthy behaviors during pregnancy with a focus on nutrition, weight gain, exercise, hygiene, common discomforts of pregnancy, relaxation breathing, breastfeeding, birth plans, contraception, emotional well-being and pediatric care.

"Our work with the March of Dimes is an integral part of our efforts to improve the lives of the people we serve and the health of our communities," said Monye Connolly, president, BCBSGA. "Through the Foundation, we are able to provide support to vital programs like Centering Pregnancy."

More than 540,000 babies are born too soon each year in the United States. Preterm birth costs the nation more than $26 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine. It is the leading cause of newborn death, and babies who survive an early birth face the risk of lifelong health problems such as breathing problems, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, vision and hearing loss.

Even babies born just a few weeks too soon (34-36 weeks gestation, also known as late preterm birth) have higher rates of death and disability than full-term babies.

"This program is an important component of BCBSGA's Foundation's goal of increasing the number of women who receive prenatal care in the first trimester, ultimately helping to reduce the number of babies with a low birth weight or that are born preterm," said Janice Hutchings, program director - social responsibility of BCBSGA's parent company's Foundation. "We are pleased to support the March of Dimes to address such critical health issues."

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Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Challenges Individual Donors to Join Hosea Feed the Hungry in the Fight Against Hunger and Homelessness

/PRNewswire/ -- The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation (AMBFF) is providing Atlanta-based Hosea Feed the Hungry (HFTH), the Southeast's largest food bank serving families and individuals directly, with a $50,000 challenge grant in 2010. The grant, which will specifically support HFTH's operating budget in 2010 and help fund the salaries of a case manager and human services director, is also meant to inspire individual donors to support HFTH's efforts to end hunger and homelessness.

HFTH, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary of serving the needy in Atlanta and around the world, will immediately receive $25,000 from AMBFF and up to another $25,000 dollar-for-dollar match of individual contributions between now and March 31, 2010.

"We are proud to partner with HFTH, especially during this critical time when so many in our community are struggling to meet their most basic needs," said Foundation President Penelope McPhee. "We hope this challenge grant will encourage other donors to help HFTH reach out to our community's most vulnerable residents."

Because of the economy, corporate and individual contributions are down 35 percent, while monthly calls for help with human services are up a staggering 45 percent. Additionally, HFTH has announced a major capital campaign for 2010 to raise money for a new Care Center where it can better serve the working poor and homeless with critical, year-round human services like rent assistance, help to pay utilities, weekly food boxes, counseling, employment services and help finding temporary housing.

"This is a serious economic time for HFTH as we are constantly evaluating our ability to impact the needy in our community by carefully tracking service requests, coordinating with city and county agencies as well as other area nonprofit organizations to prevent duplication of services, and empowering a governing board with oversight," said HFTH Executive Director Elisabeth Omilami. "This generous gift from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation gives us the critical financial support for program managers who regularly engage in qualitative evaluation so our clients' needs are met through HFTH programs or referral to other agencies."

HFTH's valued community partners will ensure that it continues serving those in need for another 40 years. Everyone can make a difference in helping those in need, no matter how large or small a contribution. Please go to www.hoseafeedthehungry.com for the various needs and opportunities available to give back to the community.

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