What do a splash pad, a nurse case manager, a cooking class and a telemedicine system have in common? They are examples of health-promoting requests funded by the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas in 2020. This year, the Blue & You Foundation awarded $3.4 million in grants to fund 40 initiatives in 23 of Arkansas’ 75 counties.
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield established the Blue & You Foundation in 2001. Since then, it has awarded more than $36 million to nonprofits and governmental agencies. That means 1,922 health-improvement programs in 248 communities and in all 75 counties.
To see the full list, go to blueandyoufoundationarkansas.org.
Here’s a sampling:
- Ashdown Community Foundation ($150,000) – to build a splash pad in the city park
- McGehee Hospital ($150,000) – to hire nurses to help 300 patients in southeast Arkansas manage chronic conditions
- Arkansas Council on Economic Education, Little Rock ($23,460) – to teach 120 schoolteachers from throughout the state how to prepare nutritious, low-cost meals
- Baxter Regional Medical Center, Mountain Home ($149,997) – to create a telemedicine system for healthcare providers in north-central Arkansas