For Immediate Release
July 20, 2005

BCBSNC Contact:
Gayle Tuttle, (919) 765-3747
Mark Stinneford, (919) 765-3745

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation Awards Grants

Catawba County YMCA receives grant for program to help overweight children

Chapel Hill, NC – The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation has awarded nine grants totaling more than $128,000 to nonprofit organizations that improve the health and well being of North Carolinians in communities across the state, including Catawba County's YMCA.

Grants were awarded to programs focusing on community needs consistent with the BCBSNC Foundation's mission. The mission includes increasing access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured, eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities, encouraging physical activity, and promoting health screenings and education.

The YMCA of Catawba County was awarded $10,000 to establish Kinetics and Nutrition for Overweight Kids (K.N.O.K.-OUT). K.N.O.K.-OUT provides physical activity and nutritional education for children and their families in Catawba County and the surrounding counties.

According to the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute, over 18 percent of children ages five to 11 and over 29 percent of children ages 12 to 18 are considered overweight or obese in Catawba County alone.

"Childhood obesity is an ever-growing concern in our community and in our state," said Jerry Martin, interim CEO of the YMCA of Catawba Valley. "The generosity of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation will enable us to impact 200 kids over the next year through K.N.O.K.-OUT and contribute to their well-being long into their adult lives."

Additional grant recipients are:

• Alamance Regional Medical Center—awarded $16,140 to establish a faith-based diabetes program targeting minorities and high-risk groups in Alamance County.
• Crossworks Inc.—awarded $10,000 to establish a heart disease screening and education project aimed at African-American populations in the rural, economically distressed counties of Edgecombe, Nash and Halifax.
• Healthy Children of Rowan County—awarded $15,000 to establish a Type II diabetes screening and education program targeting children in Rowan County.
• KOALA Inc.—awarded $5,000 to provide adult day health care services to the elderly in Transylvania County.
• New Bern-Craven County YMCA Inc.—awarded $7,019 to measure outcomes of the Kids in Motion program, a healthy lifestyles and weight management collaborative in Craven County
• North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation—awarded $25,000 to provide a parent/caregiver education project in 63 counties to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
• WakeMed—awarded $25,000 to provide physical activity as part of the hospital's pediatric diabetes assessment and management program serving many low-income and minority children.
• YWCA of Asheville—awarded $15,000 to continue its diabetes services and educational outreach to underserved populations in Buncombe County.

"These organizations are doing important work and it is essential that they be given the support they need to help promote and facilitate healthy living among North Carolinians," said Kathy Higgins, vice president of the BCBSNC Foundation. "We hope others are able to learn and grow from the example set by these great organizations."