Hello, and welcome to the BCBSNC Foundation's home on the Web. Whether you are returning, or visiting us for the first time, it is our intent to provide you with the most up-to-date and relevant information about the BCBSNC Foundation.

Recently, we completed a comprehensive assessment of our funding strategies to ensure that the organizations, programs and services we support are maximizing their impact on the health and well-being of North Carolinians. The result has been a strengthening of our funding focus areas as well as our overall approach to giving. We firmly believe this refined strategy will lead to long-term, sustainable results that will positively affect communities across the state.

Through this growth, our overall vision has remained constant: improving the lives of North Carolinians. We continue to travel throughout the state visiting clinics, nonprofits, and other service providers. We listen to the voices of those at risk of losing access to health care services. We are involved in educating and assisting a public that, by necessity, needs to become more health conscious.

We've supported critical programs for Be Active North Carolina; funded multi-year, $10 million grants to the North Carolina Association of Free Clinics and the N.C. Medical Society Foundation; and developed a one-of-a-kind training program to strengthen North Carolina's nonprofits. We've unveiled programs, like our Breast Health Project, that are saving lives; and we've responded to North Carolina's need for increased emergency preparedness infrastructure in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. And the list goes on.

With more than 200 programs and services funded, we see the benefits of our dollars at work every day. We hear inspiring stories, see amazing results, and hope for permanent change. We will continue to look for innovative and effective programs and services that will help individuals, one life at a time.

I hope you find our Web site a useful and informative tool. If you have questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to contact our staff, as we are here to help you.

We look forward to hearing about the wonderful programs being implemented in your communities.

Kind Regards,

Kathy Higgins, President
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation