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

Rowan County organization receives grant for pediatric diabetes prevention program

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 Healthy Children of Rowan County (HCRC).

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.

Healthy Children of Rowan County was awarded $15,000 for Healthier Future for Diabetics, a screening and education program targeting children at three economically deprived schools in Rowan County.

The North Carolina Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance System reports that 16.8 percent of children two to four years of age, 24.4 percent of children five to 11, and 22.2 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 in Rowan County are overweight. This increase in obesity and overweight in children is a significant factor in the rise in childhood diabetes. Healthier Future for Diabetics will encourage prevention and treatment through healthy eating, physical activity and identification of high-risk children.

"The grant money will enable us to collaborate more effectively with the Rowan County schools," said Pattie Rudar, treasurer and board member at HCRC. "By working closely with schools, teachers and parents, we can improve children's health not only now, but into the future."

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.
• 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."