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Anthem Blue Cross Associates Volunteer to Help California Organizations During Second Annual Community Service Day

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 April 2009, 17:23 CDT

Nearly 1,000 associates, their families and friends participate in 2009 event

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 1,000 Anthem Blue Cross associates and their friends and families joined forces to participate in the parent company's national Community Service Day. These efforts helped more than 23 organizations across the state, including:

• Contra Loma Regional Park - Wildlife Volunteers, Antioch, Calif.
• El Proyecto Del Barrio (Family Health Care Clinic), Arleta, Calif.
• Boys & Girls Clubs -- Camarillo, Calif.
• Poverello House - Fresno, Calif.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County - Irvine, Calif.
• March of Dimes/March for Babies - Los Angeles, Modesto, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Ramone, Calif.
• Help of Ojai - Ojai, Calif.
• Pacific Pride Foundation - Santa Barbara, Calif.
• Foodlink for Tulare County, Visalia Rescue Mission - Visalia, Calif.

"At Anthem Blue Cross, our associates give back to our communities every day in every day ways," said Leslie A. Margolin, plan president for Anthem Blue Cross. "Community Service Day is one more way we can come together to help improve our communities. During this difficult economic time it is more important than ever to collaborate on projects and services that can have an impact on the health and wellness of our communities."

Coinciding with Points of Light & Hands On Network's National Volunteer Week, Anthem Blue Cross associates participated in many activities, including the April 25th March of Dimes 'March for Babies' in Southern California, where more than 250 Anthem Blue Cross associates served as walkers and event volunteers to raise $150,000 for the annual event that raises awareness of and funds research on child birth defects.

"This is a particularly special activity for many of our associates," added Margolin, who served as Southern California Chairperson for this year's March of Dimes 'March for Babies' fund-raiser. "Many of us know someone in our family or circle of friends who has been touched by such personal challenges. This is just one of many worthy causes we rally behind as Anthem associates annually."

In 2008, the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation also granted $2,017,311 to community organizations in California, and Anthem Blue Cross gifted more than $540,000 to civic and charitable organizations through its community relations support. Through Anthem Blue Cross' associate giving campaign, with a 50 percent match from the parent company's foundation, Anthem Blue Cross associates in California personally pledged nearly $4 million to help more than 1,500 non profit organizations throughout the state in 2008.

About the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation

Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association promotes Anthem Blue Cross's inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that the company serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company's annual associate giving campaign and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges.

(R) ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. To learn more about the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation please visit www.wellpointfoundation.org.

SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross Foundation

Source: PR Newswire

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