Boys & Girls Clubs In Louisiana Awarded New Grants By The Anthem Foundation

Grants provide $5,000 to each Club to improve health & wellness factors among Louisiana youth to create healthier future generations

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Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Dec 04, 2018, 10:00 ET

BATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Through Triple Play, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Anthem Foundation are delivering education and programming that promotes the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition, and enables youth to build the skills needed to overcome environmental factors that can negatively impact health and wellness. Thanks to $15,000 in Triple Play grants from the Anthem Foundation, more youth will have access to health and wellness programming in Louisiana.

Through the partnership, Boys & Girls Clubs in Louisiana have made significant strides in enabling youth to reach their full potential as healthy, productive adults. When comparing Louisiana kids with national youth, 94 percent of Louisiana Club kids report that Boys & Girls Club professionals regularly establish and reinforce high expectations of them compared to more than 55 percent of national youth. Thanks to the Anthem Foundation, the following clubs will receive grants to implement the Triple Play program:

Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Louisiana ($5,000)
Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Shreveport ($5,000)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Acadiana ($5,000)

"At the Anthem Foundation, we work to ensure Louisiana youth have an opportunity to live a healthier life," said Aaron Lambert, president, Healthy Blue. "Through our foundation, we are taking a proactive approach to adolescent health that takes into consideration social and environmental factors that impact well-being, and providing access to resources and support that fosters a greater awareness about the benefits of leading a healthier lifestyle that can positively impact their future."

As Boys & Girls Clubs of America's proven health and wellness program, Triple Play is a game plan for the mind, body and soul. Supported by founding sponsor The Coca-Cola Company and co-sponsor, Amerigroup Foundation, the program's three components deliver on the belief that whole child health fosters young people's ability to gain diverse knowledge, skills, and protective factors that enable them to overcome barriers to wellness, resulting in positive future health outcomes.

"The Anthem Foundation's continued support of Triple Play has enabled us to continuously build and implement a whole child development approach," said Jennifer Bateman, national vice president of Youth Development Programs for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Through the partnership, we're enabling Louisiana youth in all communities statewide the opportunity to develop the healthy habits, and social and emotional skills to lead a healthy lifestyle for life."

The Anthem Foundation is committed to improving health and strengthening communities. In addition to today's grants, the Foundation also awarded Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Baton Rouge with $20,000 to renovate a new Triple Play Gamesroom.

Through Triple Play, the Anthem Foundation aims to create positive outcomes for youth, families and communities that are sustained over time. Together, the partnership seeks to level the playing field to enable all youth to achieve great futures.

The Triple Play grants are part of a five-year, $10 million commitment to Boys & Girls Clubs of America from the Anthem Foundation.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, 4,300 Clubs serve 4 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more on Facebook and Twitter.

About Anthem Foundation
The Anthem Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc. and through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes the inherent commitment of Anthem, Inc. to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem, 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 year-round Associate Giving program which provides a 50 percent match of associates' pledges, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. To learn more about the Anthem Foundation, please visit http://www.anthem.foundation and its blog at http://anthemfoundation.tumblr.com.

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America