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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation Presents Boys & Girls Clubs of America with First Health Champion Award
[August 15, 2014]

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation Presents Boys & Girls Clubs of America with First Health Champion Award


ATLANTA --(Business Wire)--

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) Foundation announced today that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is the recipient of its first-ever Health Champion Award, which recognizes the organization for the demonstrated success of its signature health and wellness program, "Triple Play (News - Alert)."

The award was presented to BCGA earlier today at the Jesse Draper Boys & Girls Club, the site of the finale stop of Triple Play's 'Million Minutes in Motion' mobile tour, where hundreds of kids and community members gathered to celebrate one million minutes plus of exercise logged across the country this summer.

The Health Champion Award was designed to recognize an individual or organization making a positive impact on the health and wellness of the country. Health Champions create top-tier programs that bring awareness to health issues, help find solutions to those issues or innovate in the field of health care.

"Boys & Girls Clubs of America has demonstrated its innovation and commitment to being a Health Champion by encouraging kids to have fun while eating healthier foods, becoming more physically active and feeling better about themselves," said Morgan Kendrick, president of BCBSGa. "Today more than ever, it's so important that we empower the young people of our state to make healthy choices and live a healthy lifestyle. We've seen the success of the Triple Play program first-hand and that's why we're proud to work with Boys & Girls Clubs of America and excited to present them the with the firstever Health Champion award."



Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation also launched a "Health Champion" Pandora (News - Alert) station, providing upbeat music to help kids and adults stay on the fast track to good health. Olympian track and field champion Gail Devers introduced the station at the event as she led the group in a series of physical activities. The station can be found by searching "Health Champion Radio" or going to Pandora.com/getactive.

During the past three years, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation has partnered with BGCA and co-sponsor The Coca-Cola Company on the Triple Play Program and its ongoing efforts to promote healthy, active lifestyles, while combating the growing rate of childhood obesity among our nation's youth.


With more than 3 out of 10 young people considered obese or overweight, early education and active programming for youth is even more critical. Since its inception in 2005, Triple Play has made more than 9.2 million connections with kids to share the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition through the program's three key components focused on mind, body and soul.

A study of more than 2,000 children ages 9-14 showed that Triple Play succeeded in getting them to exercise more and eat healthier foods. Kids who participated in Triple Play got 90 percent of the federally recommended amount of daily exercise, while their peers outside the program got 78 percent. The program continues to grow, providing more programming for kids and Clubs each year.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation

Through charitable grant making, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, promotes Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia'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 year-round Associate Giving program and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates' pledges. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.


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