(CONTRA COSTA, CA – June 28, 2010) — SCAN Health Plan has furthered its longstanding commitment to healthy, independent aging with financial contributions to two local nonprofit organizations that support senior nutrition – Meals on Wheels of Contra Costa Inc. and Food Bank of Contra Costa. Each organization received $5,000 from SCAN. The local donations are part of SCAN’s ongoing commitment to supporting seniors in the communities it serves.
“Significant decreases in state and federal funding have created financial shortfalls for many community-based organizations,” said David Schmidt, CEO of SCAN, a senior-focused not-for-profit health plan. “At SCAN we feel strongly about ensuring that critically important resources remain open and available to seniors who rely on them, especially for something as basic as a warm meal.”
SCAN’s community giving program is focused on helping to meet immediate needs – and close gaps – in community services. Funding is provided to community-based, nonprofit organizations that provide direct services to seniors, particularly those providing basic human needs such as food.
To date SCAN has donated $85,000 to organizations supporting senior nutrition across California. In 2009 SCAN launched this outreach effort by donating approximately $385,000 to 44 not-for-profit, community-based organizations statewide. The majority of these contributions focused on senior nutrition, with dollars also going toward long-term care and caregiver programs.
The Food Bank of Contra Costa has been serving the community for 34 years and provides food to more than 100,000 hungry people in need every month directly at community sites and through a local network of 178 charitable agencies. The Food Bank works to reduce food waste, feed hungry people, and raise public awareness of issues related to food and hunger.
Meals on Wheels of Contra Costa Inc. is the only agency in Contra Costa County raising funds specifically to provide meals for homebound elders through the countywide Meals on Wheels network. This year Meals on Wheels will subsidize over 150,000 nutritious meals delivered to nearly 550 additional frail homebound seniors each day. With government funding unable to keep pace, Meals on Wheels of Contra Costa must find the resources to meet this rapidly expanding need.
“The growth of the older adult population is impacting communities and families all across America,” said Schmidt. “There has never been a greater need to support community organizations through meaningful and purposeful giving.”
SCAN’s community giving program is part of the health plan’s larger community outreach efforts, which also include the SCAN Van mobile resource center for seniors and caregivers launched earlier this year, SCAN’s “Trading Ages” senior sensitivity program, the SCAN Resource Centers in California and Arizona, and many other initiatives.
For more than 30 years, SCAN Health Plan has been focusing on the unique needs of seniors and is now the country’s fourth largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plan. The company currently has nearly 130,000 members in California and Arizona. Further information may be obtained at scanhealthplan.com.