INDIANAPOLIS, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPoint Foundation, LLC, a
private, non-profit organization wholly funded by WellPoint, Inc., today
announced that it will contribute $100,000 to support relief efforts
following the devastating earthquakes in China and the cyclone which struck
Myanmar.
"Immediately following natural disasters of this magnitude, relief
organizations need financial support to help ensure necessary medical
supplies and food are available for those affected," said Caz Matthews,
president, WellPoint Foundation. "As aftershocks continue to be felt, the
global community needs to come together to help the thousands of people who
have suffered overwhelming losses in China and Myanmar."
The WellPoint Foundation will make the contributions directly to
AmeriCares, an international relief organization with the mission to ensure
that medicines, medical supplies and aid reach individuals in need.
AmeriCares will divide the funds evenly to support relief efforts in China
and Myanmar.
"WellPoint's associates feel a great sense of responsibility to aid
others," continued Matthews. "We did so after Hurricane Katrina and
continue to do so when disasters, large and small affect the communities we
serve. With WellPoint's new presence in China we have a responsibility to
help rebuild the community."
About the WellPoint Foundation
The WellPoint Foundation, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization
wholly funded by WellPoint, Inc. Through charitable contributions and
programs, the Foundation promotes WellPoint's inherent commitment to
enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in
communities that WellPoint's affiliate health plans serve. With combined
assets of $200 million, the Foundation focuses its funding on strategic
initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to reduce the
number of uninsured as well as organizations that promote the Healthy
Generations Program, a multi- generational initiative that targets specific
disease states and medical conditions. These disease states and medical
conditions 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 provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges. To learn
more about the WellPoint Foundation please visit
http://www.wellpointfoundation.org .
About WellPoint, Inc.:
WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of
medical membership in the United States. WellPoint is an independent
licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members
as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine,
Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New
Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York
City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue
Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio,
Virginia (excluding the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.),
Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is
available at http://www.wellpoint.com .
SOURCE WellPoint Foundation, LLC
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Related links:
http://www.wellpointfoundation.org
http://www.wellpoint.com
CONTACT:
Cheryl Leamon, +1-317-488-6748, or Investor
Relations: Michael Kleinman, +1-317-488-6713, both of WellPoint
Foundation, LLC
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