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

New Bern-Craven County YMCA receives grant 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 the New-Bern Craven County 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 New Bern-Craven County YMCA Inc. was awarded $7,019 to measure outcomes of Kids in Motion, a healthy lifestyles and weight management collaborative program serving overweight and obese children in Craven County.

At the recent "State of the Child" conference in New Bern, Dr. Tom Irons of East Carolina University presented statistics demonstrating the alarming increase of childhood obesity across the nation and in the state of North Carolina. These statistics, coupled with concerns voiced by local doctors, teachers and parents, led the New Bern-Craven County YMCA to implement Kids in Motion, a program that provides nutritional education to overweight children and their parents, and encourages physical activity.

"The New Bern-Craven County YMCA is grateful to the Foundation for this generous grant and the opportunity to impact so many lives," said Thomas Braaten, executive director of the chapter. "By arming parents and kids with the skills they need to lead a healthier lifestyle, Kids in Motion has the potential to have a long-term, lasting effect."

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.
• 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.
• YMCA of Catawba County—awarded $10,000 to establish a physical activity and nutritional education program for overweight children in five western counties.
• 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."