Blue Cross giving $235K to R.I. community programs

PROVIDENCE – In the latest round of charitable giving through its more than decade-old BlueAngel Community Health Grants, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island is spreading $235,000 in grants to 10 Rhode Island nonprofits. The awards are designed to help improve the quality and access to health care for the state’s uninsured and under-insured population.
“The BlueAngel Community Health Grant program forms the foundation of our charitable giving efforts at BCBSRI,” said Peter Andruszkiewicz, president and CEO for BCBSRI in a statement. “The nonprofits we’re supporting through our grant program are doing great things in their communities, from educating children about nutrition to providing mental health services to vulnerable populations.”
Six organizations will receive a total of $150,000 in initial funding while another four programs will receive a total of $85,000 in the second year of two-year grants. The grants are as follows:

  • $30,000 to Amos House for its psychiatric services program for 90-day program residents.
  • $25,000 to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Progreso Latino, The Providence Center, Ready to Learn Providence and Wood River Health Services to support nutrition education, a Healthy Food, Healthy Families program, the BlueAngel Improve Your Health program, the Health Connection Program, to expand outreach that reduces health disparities, and to educate low- and moderate-income residents of southern Rhode Island about affordable health care options, respectively.
  • $20,000 to Children’s Friend and Community Health Innovations of Rhode Island to support the initiation and continuation of breast feeding by low-income women, and for training of community health workers, respectively.
  • $15,000 to Environmental Justice League Rhode Island to support the expansion of distribution of healthy snacks in the summer to numerous venues.

“The funding we received from BCBSRI’s BlueAngel Community Health Grant is essential in helping us advance the goals of our breast-feeding program,” said David Caprio, president and CEO for Children’s Friend in a statement. “Research shows that breast-feeding provides multiple benefits for infants, such as receiving essential nutrients and offering protection from disease and illness. With BCBSRI’s support, we will be able to outreach to low-income new mothers and provide them with supplies that they would otherwise not be able to afford.”
The Blue Angel community grant program has donated more than $2.1 million to Rhode Island nonprofits since its founding in 2003, touching the lives of an estimated 215,000 people.

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