DETROIT, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- If communication were an Olympic event, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation would be among the top medal winners in its class, with a total of 18 awards for excellence in communications.
The Foundation’s most recent honors are three bronze medals for excellence in communications in the 2004 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards Program. Sponsored by the Council on Foundations and the Communications Network, the awards program recognizes effective communications efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs.
This year’s three bronze medals are for the Foundation’s 2002 Annual Report, its Web site at http://www.bcbsm.com/foundation , and its three brochures describing available funding for research programs on Women’s Health, Reducing Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Health, and Responding to the Nursing Shortage in Michigan. The Foundation has won a total 18 Wilmers since 1995: six gold, five silver, six bronze and one runner-up.
“Our program brochures are key communication tools for reaching the best researchers in the health care arena,” said Ira Strumwasser, executive director and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. “We’re honored that the Council has again this year recognized the efforts of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation staff. We are able to earn these awards because we have great people representing a great organization. The synergy between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the BCBSM Foundation is one that results in outstanding programs that we can all be proud of. The Web site and annual report were the work of a world-class team comprised of BCBSM Foundation staff and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Web Development Team and Graphics Department.”
Entries to this year’s awards program included 199 annual or biennial reports, magazines/periodicals, public information campaigns and Web sites. The awards will be presented at the 55th Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations in Toronto on April 26.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation is dedicated to improving the health of Michigan residents through the support of research and innovative health programs. BCBSM Foundation grant programs are conducted in Michigan by Michigan-based researchers and nonprofit organizations to address issues of quality and costs of care, access to care, and community health.
The BCBSM Foundation is the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, incorporated separately from BCBSM. The Foundation is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. None of the BCBSM Foundation’s grant-making resources comes from BCBSM customer premium payments. The Foundation was funded through an endowment from Michigan physicians in 1983 and from proceeds of an earlier prescription drug lawsuit settlement. For additional information, please visit the Foundation Web site at http://www.bcbsm.com/foundation .
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
CONTACT: Cheryl McDonald of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan,+1-313-225-8121, MediaRelations@bcbsm.com
