By CASANDRA ANDREWS - Staff Reporter - Press Register - 7/23/09
Because of the kindness of strangers, 1,000 children in southern Alabama will receive health insurance for a year.
The Community Foundation of South Alabama recently collected $60,000 in donations from people in four states and seven Alabama counties for the Insure Alabama's Children Campaign.
The donations were matched by the local foundation, which made the total $120,000. As part of a previous agreement, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama matched that amount, resulting in a $240,000 contribution.
Every dollar of that amount will be used to provide health care insurance for 1,000 children who would not otherwise have been able to receive it, said Stephanie Ryan, a spokeswoman for the foundation.
The Community Foundation of South Alabama began the campaign last year, hoping to reach the goal of $60,000 in contributions by March. With the downturn in the economy, it took three months longer than expected, said Tom Davis, executive director of the nonprofit agency.
"These are the children that are caught in that gap and not eligible for federal aid," Davis said. "I think donors responded to the need for health insurance, particularly among uninsured children."
Davis said the funds raised have been turned over to Blue Cross and Blue Shield: "The money is already at work supplying the insurance."
Besides doctor visits when they are sick, the children in question can now have regular checkups, routine immunizations, vision services, emergency care and hospital outpatient care, Ryan said. Local health care providers have said improved medical attention for children has far-reaching impacts, because when kids stay home sick without seeing a doctor, it can take them longer to recover.
The Alabama Child Caring Program of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has assisted uninsured children since its inception in 1988. It provides primary and preventive health care services for those under the age of 19 whose working parents earn too much money to qualify for government assistance but do not make enough to afford medical coverage.
"We believe that investing in the health of our children is critical to the long-term prosperity and success of our community," Ronald B. Melton, chairman of the foundation, said in a written statement.
"Without this generous contribution, these children would not have health care coverage and would not have access to the best health care possible," Phillip Pope, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, said in a written statement. "These children may not realize the generosity of so many people, but they can now go to the doctor just like your children and mine."
The Community Foundation of South Alabama awarded more than $3 million in grants in 2008 to nonprofit organizations, according to Ryan.
It provides funding to groups in an eight-county region: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties.