LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) today announced five new grants to local Boys & Girls Clubs in Kentucky to improve the health and wellbeing of kids in the state thanks the Anthem Foundation. Boys & Girls Clubs provide kids and teens with critical programming during after-school time that creates a positive environment and supports a healthy, active lifestyle. Boys & Girls Clubs around the state will receive grants to support Triple Play programming, focusing on being healthy through the mind, body and soul.
Anthem Foundation will be issuing the following grants to Clubs:
- Boys & Girls Club of Glasgow/Barren County – Houchens Unit, USAG Fort Campbell CYS Services, Harlan County Boys & Girls Club, Inc., Boys & Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana Clubhouses including the Newburg and Parkland Clubs will each receive a $5,000 Focus Grant to provide programming focused on teaching the importance of healthy eating habits and being physically active. Each Club will also focus on increasing their fruit and veggie consumption or physical activity as part of the grant.
“Kids and teens today face a variety of challenges when it comes to eating healthy and staying physically fit. That’s why we support Triple Play, to help ensure that our youth build life-long healthy habits with a firm foundation of support,” said Deb Moessner, president of Anthem Foundation in Kentucky. “The Triple Play program and Boys & Girls Clubs in Kentucky are working to build great futures for our kids by changing the opportunity equation to help them make healthy choices and participate in healthy activities each and every day.”
As Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s proven health and wellness program, Triple Play is a game plan for the mind, body and soul. Supported by founding sponsor The Coca-Cola Company and co-sponsor, Anthem Foundation, the program’s three components encourage Club members to eat healthier (mind), become more physically active (body) and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships (soul). Since the program’s inception in 2005, Triple Play has made over 10 million connections with kids and teens.
“Even after a decade, Triple Play continues to be one of the most utilized programs at Boys & Girls Clubs around the country and it is critical that we continue to elevate this program to help Club members choose a healthy pathway into adulthood,” said Jennifer Bateman, national vice president for programs, training and youth development with BGCA. “We are incredibly grateful for the support and partnership of Anthem Foundation, because without their support we would not be able to impact so many kids and teens each year. As we exceed our 10 millionth connection with the program, we hope to continue to provide new and much needed healthy lifestyles programming to kids who need it most, and create a positive foundation for them to grow and thrive.”
Anthem Foundation is committed to improving health and strengthening Kentucky communities. Through its Healthy Generations grant program, Anthem Foundation works to identify the issues most in need of attention and then directs its financial support and volunteer efforts toward improving health in those areas. Promoting youth health and active lifestyles is an ongoing focus of the foundation.
The Triple Play grants announced today are part of a five-year, $10 million commitment from Anthem Foundation Foundation’s parent company foundation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America to promote healthy lifestyles. Last year, Anthem Foundation provided seven Triple Play grants to Clubs around Kentucky. This is the fifth consecutive year Anthem Foundation has awarded Triple Play grants in Kentucky.
About Triple Play
Triple Play: A healthy lifestyles Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul, was launched in 2005 by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services and with support from The Coca-Cola Company. The goal of Triple Play is to encourage kids to eat healthier, become more physically active and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships. A two-year study of more than 2,000 children ages 9-14 showed that Triple Play succeeded in getting them to exercise more, eat healthier foods and feel better about themselves. The study found that Triple Play kids increased to 90 percent of the federally recommended amount of daily exercise, which is 60 minutes a day for children, while their peers outside the program decreased to 78 percent. Triple Play includes five program components, each of which serves between 20,000 and 500,000 youth annually. Since its inception in 2005, Triple Play has made more than 10 million connections with kids across the country. In 2011, the Anthem Foundation joined BGCA and Coca-Cola as a Triple Play sponsor. Learn more about the program at www.bgca.org/tripleplay.
About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,100 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook andhttp://bgca.org/twitter.
About Anthem Foundation
The Anthem Foundation, Inc. is a private, non-profit foundation. Through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes Anthem Health Plan of Kentucky’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities in Kentucky. 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. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. To learn more about the Foundation please visit www.anthem.foundation.
