UnitedHealthcare Supports the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation’s Uncommon Athlete Program
Employees volunteer in Day of Service at Westport Boys & Girls Club
November 6, 2014 /3BL Media/ - Nearly 100 UnitedHealthcare employees today took part in the Uncommon Athlete Day of Service at the Westport Boys & Girls Club. Volunteers helped paint, clean-up flower beds, mulch and more to help refresh the space for kids who spend time at the Club.
The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and its program partner, Rachel’s Challenge, jointly developed the Uncommon Athlete program to empower young athletes to be positive influences on and off the field. A central tenet of the program is the crucial role coaches play in the development of youth, not only as athletes, but into men and women who have the power to become catalysts for positive change. Youth athletes in the program are encouraged to display the following five core characteristics: perseverance, relationships, integrity, courage and leadership.
“As our Foundation continues to reach youth across the country, we always want to make sure we are taking care of the communities in our own backyard,” said Steve Salem, president, Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. “We are grateful for the support of our dedicated partner UnitedHealthcare and its volunteers who are taking time to step up and help the communities they serve.”
In addition to providing volunteers for today’s Day of Service, UnitedHealthcare is helping to fund the Uncommon Athlete program and distribute Uncommon Athlete sports equipment to more than 500 young athletes in five Baltimore City Public Schools. Dunbar High School, Forest Park High School, Patterson High School, Booker T. Washington Middle School and Calverton Middle School will each receive Uncommon Athlete equipment such as baseballs, softballs, helmets, footballs, equipment bags, coolers and other sports items. UnitedHealthcare volunteers helped distribute Uncommon Athlete equipment to these five Baltimore City Public Schools and attended the Uncommon Athlete presentations today.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to support the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation’s Uncommon Athlete program and its work that encourages young people to use their position as student athletes to change their community for the better,” said Christopher Mullins, CEO, Mid-Atlantic, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual.
UnitedHealthcare’s support of the Uncommon Athlete program is part of CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd program.
“The Uncommon Athlete program is developing and mentoring the next generation of leaders in this community,” said Paul Polizzotto, president and founder of CBS EcoMedia. “Thanks to the generous financial support provided by UnitedHealthcare through our WellnessAd program, and its commitment to building healthier communities, over 500 Baltimore youth-athletes will have the opportunity to recognize their true potential.”
This project is the latest in UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” employee volunteer initiative, whose mission is to 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 UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare 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 800,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in health benefits and 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.
About the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation
The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation uses baseball- and softball-themed programs to help build character and teach critical life lessons to underserved youth residing in America’s most distressed communities. Founded in 2001 by members of the Ripken family in memory of their patriarch Cal, Sr., the Foundation works to create programs that positively impact at-risk youth through active community partnerships with America’s most successful youth service organizations. The Ripken Foundation uses the baseball and softball field to help teach life’s critical lessons such as perseverance, loyalty, nutrition, hard work and leadership to young people residing in disadvantaged communities. The Ripken Foundation has impacted over 1 million kids nationwide through its Youth Development Park initiative and Badges for Baseball programming, since 2001.
About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
At EcoMedia, we’re propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that’s been our mission since we founded the company in 2002. In 2010, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media.
Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide. In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change. Please visit ecomediacbs.com, like us at facebook.com/EcoMediaCBS or follow us at Twitter.com/EcoMediaCBS.
By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities. EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.
