Lions Clubs International Foundation Receives Humanitarian Grant from the Anthem Foundation

The $250,000 Lions-Anthem Foundation Healthy Heroes Grant will support projects that promote healthy and active lifestyles

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Lions Clubs International Foundation

Sep 16, 2015, 08:00 ET

OAK BROOK, Ill., Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Lions Clubs International Foundation announced that it has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Anthem Foundation to create the Lions-Anthem Foundation Healthy Heroes initiative to help improve the health of communities across the country.

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This new grant will support Lion-led humanitarian projects in late 2015 and early 2016 that promote healthy and active lifestyles. From positive youth development to empowering individuals with disabilities to become more independent, grants will be awarded to Lions clubs and districts with programs that support improved health outcomes.

"At Anthem we are committed to supporting community initiatives that help create a healthier generation of Americans," said Lance Chrisman, executive director for the Anthem Foundation. "We're proud to join forces with Lions Clubs International Foundation, and the hard working Lions who are serving throughout the country, to improve the communities we all call home."

The grant will also support a month-long, joint community service event later this fall to benefit local communities across the country.

"This partnership is a great example of what can be achieved when partners work together to strengthen their local communities," said Lions Clubs International President, Dr. Jitsuhiro Yamada. "Lions are looking forward to working side by side with the Anthem Foundation to help serve communities across the United States."

Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International, the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries and geographical areas worldwide. Since 1968, LCIF has supported Lions by providing grant funding for their local and global humanitarian efforts, including treating and preventing avoidable blindness, empowering youth and providing disaster relief on a global scale. Learn more at lcif.org.

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.

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SOURCE Lions Clubs International Foundation