GUILFORD, Conn., Nov. 12 CT-AnthemAwards$100k
GUILFORD, Conn., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue
Shield Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to the Shoreline Greenway
Trail. The grant is the largest corporate donation in the Trail's history. The
grant will be combined with other smaller grants and contributions to build
the Hammonasset Beach Section of Trail in Madison, Connecticut.
A public groundbreaking and check presentation will be held on November
20, 2008, 2-3 P.M. at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut.
The grant was awarded through the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Foundation's Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative to
help improve public health outcomes in Connecticut and other states served by
the Foundation.
"I am enormously pleased that this Anthem Foundation grant will benefit
our shoreline communities," said David R. Fusco, president of Anthem Blue
Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut. "Projects like this that encourage
people of all ages to increase their physical activity help promote a
healthier way of life in our community. They also support and protect our
environment, and that truly makes the Shoreline Greenway Trail a real
'win-win' for everyone."
The Shoreline Greenway promotes public health by providing an accessible,
attractive, safe venue for moderate daily exercise for residents and visitors
of all ages. The Trail's construction -- paving in some areas, compacted stone
dust or boardwalk in others -- makes it particularly attractive to families on
bicycles, parents pushing strollers and people of any age using wheelchairs.
Its route, designed to connect school campuses, train stations and town
centers, allows it to serve as an alternative, non-motorized transportation
option -- an opportunity to incorporate exercise into daily routines and to
burn calories instead of gasoline.
The Shoreline Greenway Trail is a 25-mile multi-use trail from Lighthouse
Point in New Haven, Connecticut, to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison,
Connecticut. It is being built, section by section, in the four shoreline
towns of East Haven, Branford, Guilford, and Madison, Connecticut. The Trail
is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization. Its membership includes more
than 2000 shoreline households.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association, promotes Anthem's inherent commitment to enhance the health and
well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross
and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic
initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to reduce the number
of uninsured as well as organizations and nonprofit charities that promote 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 and Blue Shield names and
symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. To
learn more about the Foundation please visit www.wellpointfoundation.org.
SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
