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

Crossworks Inc. receives grant to assist minorities in three counties

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 Edgecombe, Nash and Halifax counties.

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.

Crossworks Inc., a faith-based organization that seeks to alleviate the burden of chronic diseases through community health activities, was awarded $10,000 for their W.E.I.G.H.-to-Go program ("Weight Control, Eating Healthy, Increasing Exercise, Getting Fit and Heart Healthy"). W.E.I.G.H.-to-Go is a health screening and education project aimed at preventing and controlling heart disease in blacks in the economically-distressed, rural counties of Edgecombe, Nash and Halifax

About 40 percent of black men and women suffer from some form of heart disease compared to 30 percent of white men and 24 percent of white women. Black men and women are 29 percent more likely to die from heart disease than whites. Collaborating with black churches or faith communities in the three-county area, W.E.I.G.H.-to-Go will work to prevent and control heart disease risks in the black population by providing screenings, assessments, education and counseling.

"This comprehensive program would not be possible without the Foundation's grant," said Debra Long, executive director of Crossworks. "The screenings and preventive programs this project provides will be beneficial to the overall health of these communities."

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.
• 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.
• 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."