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"Every day our associates work to bring value to the health care systemand our health plans' members. The generosity shown during this year'sassociate giving campaign is truly remarkable," said Angela Braly, presidentand chief executive officer of WellPoint, Inc. "In these challenging economictimes, our associates continued to exceed all expectations and surpassed ourcompany-wide goal."
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The funds pledged will help nearly 10,000 not-for-profit organizationsfulfill their missions.
"As the reality of our economic times hits home, the thousands ofcharitable organizations we support will need our help more than ever," Bralysaid. "I am honored by the incredible generosity our associates showed and amtouched at how our associates are living out the mission of the organizationin everyday ways."
In addition to the associate giving campaign, the WellPoint Foundation andits affiliated foundations provide grants to support efforts to reduce thenumber of uninsured and to encourage a multigenerational approach to improvingpublic health.
During 2008, the foundations expect to grant more than $28 million tonumerous programs across the country. Examples of the many ways in which theWellPoint Foundation supports its communities are with grants such as the oneto help reduce the number of uninsured across the country. The WellPointFoundation provided a $2.5 million grant to The CoverMe Foundation. TheWellPoint Foundation also provided a grant to the American College of SportsMedicine to develop a national fitness index to help improve the health ofcommunities across the country.
The WellPoint Foundation and its affiliated foundations have also providedgrants to support relief efforts following devastating disasters around theworld, including the earthquakes in China, the wildfires in California, theflooding in the Midwest and other disasters which affected our communities.
"Through the efforts of our foundations across the country we can helpaddress local health concerns," said Caroline 'Caz' Matthews, president of theWellPoint Foundation. "But we go beyond simply providing dollars by giving ofour time through our national Community Service Day, where associatesvolunteer in our communities to have an even greater impact. In the end, ourfocus allows us to have a measurable and sustainable impact on critical healthcare needs in the communities we serve."
About WellPoint, Inc.
WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of medicalmembership in the United States. WellPoint is an independent licensee of theBlue Cross and Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the BlueCross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee forColorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as theBlue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan andsurrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licenseein selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the NorthernVirginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare.Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com .
About the WellPoint Foundation
The WellPoint Foundation, Inc. is a private, non-profit organizationwholly funded by WellPoint, Inc. Through charitable contributions andprograms, the Foundation promotes WellPoint's inherent commitment to enhancethe health and well-being of individuals and families in communities thatWellPoint's affiliate health plans serve. The Foundation focuses its fundingon strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions toreduce the number of uninsured as well as organizations that promote theHealthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targetsspecific disease states and medical conditions. These disease states andmedical conditions include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birthweight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decreaseobesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adultpopulations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smokingcessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company's annual associategiving campaign and provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaignpledges. To learn more about the WellPoint Foundation please visitwww.wellpointfoundation.org .
SOURCE WellPoint, Inc.
