Chicago Bear Kyle Long, UnitedHealthcare to Renovate Playground at St. Malachy School & Support "Blessings in a Backpack" Pro...
May 06 2015 - 4:56PM
Business Wire
- Playground renovation and weekend
healthy-food program for students made possible by a donation from
UnitedHealthcare
Chicago Bears Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kyle Long and
UnitedHealthcare are partnering to support students from low-income
families at St. Malachy School, located on Chicago’s near west
side.
UnitedHealthcare presented a $22,000
check to Kyle Long's Dreambuilders Foundation. The grant from
UnitedHealthcare will support St. Malachy School's Blessings in a
Backpack program, which provides bags of nutritious food to
students ensuring they have healthy food during weekends. The grant
will also help renovate Starr Park, which serves as St. Malachy
School's playground. From left to right: Ramona Ustian, national
board chair, Blessings in a Backpack; Chicago Bears offensive
lineman Kyle Long; Colleen Van Ham, president and CEO,
UnitedHealthcare of Illinois (Photo: UnitedHealthcare).
UnitedHealthcare donated $22,000 to the Dreambuilders Foundation
to help renovate Starr Park, which serves as St. Malachy School’s
playground. The donation is also supporting the school’s Blessings
in a Backpack program, which provides bags of nutritious food to
125 students every Friday afternoon over the next three school
years, ensuring that these children have healthy food during the
weekends.
The improvements to the 1.25-acre park will include new
playground equipment, walking paths, site lighting, landscape
improvements and a water-spray feature.
“Keeping kids healthy in Chicago is of vital importance, and I
couldn’t ask for a better partner in this effort than
UnitedHealthcare,” said Long. “The renovation at Starr Park will
give the students at St. Malachy a fun, new place to play and stay
active, and the food we give the kids each Friday through Blessings
in a Backpack will make sure they get the nutrition they need when
they are not in school.”
“UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to partner
with Kyle Long and Dreambuilders to increase awareness about
childhood health, and promote healthy lifestyles and good eating
habits in underserved Chicago neighborhoods,” said Colleen Van Ham,
president and CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Illinois.
Renovation for the new park will begin this summer, while
funding for the Blessings in a Backpack program began in January.
Combined with support from parishioners of Holy Name Cathedral, all
255 students at St. Malachy School are now being given healthy and
nutritious food on weekends through the Blessings program.
"We are truly grateful for our partnership with Dreambuilders
and the generous support of Chicago Bears' Kyle Long and
UnitedHealthcare, helping us feed hungry students over the weekend
through our program,” said Brooke Wisemen, CEO, Blessings in a
Backpack. “Every child deserves the nourishment needed to learn and
grow – because of their generosity, St. Malachy students will come
back to school on Mondays better nourished and more ready to
learn.”
This project is the latest in UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live
Well.” employee volunteer initiative, whose mission is to prevent
hunger and obesity, inspire service and encourage volunteerism. For
more information about the benefits of volunteering and to find
local opportunities to get involved, visit www.DoGoodLiveWell.org.
Follow @DoGoodLiveWell on Twitter or “like” Do Good. Live Well. on
Facebook.
About Blessings in a
BackpackHunger has both short- and long-term negative
effects on children’s health and ability to succeed in school.
Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals and
resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school
children across America who might otherwise go hungry. Blessings in
a Backpack currently feeds more than 76,000 children in 44 states
and the District of Columbia. For more information visit
www.blessingsinabackpack.org.
About DreambuildersThe
Dreambuilders Foundation is a non-profit organization that works
with pro athletes across the country to help financially,
physically and mentally-challenged kids receive the items,
opportunities and equipment they need to reach their dreams.
About
UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping
people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health
care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and
sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company
offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for
individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and
their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and
contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care
professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and
well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at
www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth
Group.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150506006776/en/
Kyle Long’s DreambuildersRyan Altizer,
615-330-6969ryan@iconsports.usorBlessings in a
BackpackKatelyn
Yoshimoto,312-573-5492katelyn_yoshimoto@jtpr.comorUnitedHealthcareTony
Marusic, 312-363-7714tony_marusic@uhc.com
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