Boys & Girls Clubs in New York Awarded Seven New Grants By Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation

Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation will be issuing the Triple Play grants to the following Clubs to encourage healthy eating and physical activities for Club members:

• USAG Fort Hamilton Youth Center
• Boys & Girls Club of Albany – Delaware Avenue Unit
• Boys & Girls Club of Mosholu Montefiore Community Center – Seton Unit
• Boys & Girls Club of Mosholu Montefiore Community Center – Teen Center
• Madison Square Boys & Girls Club – Navy Yard Unit
• Madison Square Boys & Girls Club – Thomas S. Murphy Clubhouse
• Boys & Girls Club of Albany – Arbor Hill Elementary School Unit

"After-school hours are a critical time for the health and wellness of our nation's kids and teens," said Larry Schreiber, president and CEO, Empire BlueCross BlueShield. "With New York youth back to school, we are committed to helping fill their open afternoons and weekends with constructive games and fun activities that will help build lifelong healthy habits."

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, the Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation, the program's three components encourage Club members to eat healthier (mind), become more physically active (body) and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships (soul).

"Year after year we experience tremendous adoption of our Triple Play programs, and thanks to continued support from our partner Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation we are able to bring Triple Play to even more Clubs across the country," said Dr. Jennifer Bateman, national vice president for programs, training and youth development with BGCA. "The new grants in New York will create a healthy environment where our youth can thrive, and the funds will have a lasting impact on the kids and teens served by these Clubs."

The Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation is committed to improving health and strengthening New York communities. Through its Healthy Generations grant program, the Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation works to identify the issues most in need of attention and then directs its financial support and volunteer efforts toward improving health in those areas. Promoting youth health and active lifestyles is an ongoing focus of the foundation.

The Triple Play grants announced today are part of a five-year, $10 million commitment from Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation's parent company foundation to BGCA to promote healthy lifestyles.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,200 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually 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, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize 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 at http://www.bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter.

About Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation
Through charitable grant making, the Empire BlueCross BlueShield Foundation and the Empire BlueCross Foundation, trade names of the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation L.L.C., independent licensees of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, serving residents and businesses in the 28 eastern and southeastern counties of New York State, promotes Empire's inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Empire serves. 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 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 and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates' pledges.

About Empire BlueCross BlueShield
Serving New Yorkers for 80 years, Empire BlueCross BlueShield is the largest health insurer in New York supporting more than four million members and more than 38,000 businesses in New York. Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Empire) is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice HMO, Inc., independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, serving residents and businesses in the 28 eastern and southeastern counties of New York State. Additional information about Empire is available at www.empireblue.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at @empirebcbs.

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SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Related Links

http://www.bgca.org