Magellan Health Services (NASDAQ: MGLN) released today its Community Impact Report, detailing the company's efforts to leverage its specialty health expertise in support of local communities and organizations across the country. The theme for the inaugural report is "Hands Heart Hope," a reflection of Magellan's philosophy of giving back to others through a multitude of channels and initiatives.
"Magellan has a long history of caring for the communities where we work and live, and our employees embrace this commitment," said René Lerer, M.D., Magellan's chairman and chief executive officer. "In 2011, we expanded our commitment to giving back and launched a number of initiatives to help two populations in particular: children and youth and the military community. The report exhibits the many ways in which we go beyond our daily services to leverage our specialty health expertise and culture of caring to support those in need."
The full interactive report with photos and video segments is currently available at http://magellanhealth.com/our-company/magellan-cares.aspx. The public can also follow Magellan's community activities on Twitter @MagellanCares or on YouTube at www.YouTube.com/MagellanHealth.
Supporting Children's Health and Wellness
On a daily basis, Magellan provides behavioral health services for thousands of children nationwide, giving the company and its employees a unique perspective on the issues impacting youth today. In 2011, Magellan joined Share Our Strength®, a national organization working to end childhood hunger, in support of its No Kid Hungry® Campaign and as a sponsor of the Florida Partnership to End Childhood Hunger, an initiative of Florida Impact and Share Our Strength. This fall, Magellan executives met with community leaders at Florida's Achievement Centers for Children and Families to discuss the nutritional challenges their children and families face and to serve lunch to the preschoolers and toddlers attending the program.
"The Achievement Centers for Children & Families was honored to have an organization of such prestige as Magellan witness first-hand the work our agency does every day to feed and educate our children," says Stephanie Seibel, executive director of the Achievement Centers for Children & Families Foundation. "We believe Magellan's commitment to the communities it serves will inspire other organizations to make a similar investment. Magellan Health Services is truly a community leader."
Magellan also celebrated the expansion of its nationally recognized MY LIFE (Magellan Youth Leaders Inspiring Future Empowerment) program, which began three years ago in Arizona and has spread to Pennsylvania, Florida and Louisiana. Youth, ages 13-23, join MY LIFE to discuss their experiences with mental illness, substance abuse, foster care issues and juvenile justice, and plan community events that combat the stigma of mental illness. This year, MY LIFE hosted three MY Fest events in Arizona and Pennsylvania that drew several thousand attendees.
In Missouri, Magellan's largest office continued a nine year tradition of hosting a trivia night and golf tournament in support of the Barnes Jewish Christian Hospital's Wings Pediatric Hospice Program. Over nearly a decade, Magellan's employees and community partners have raised more than a quarter million dollars to help provide care for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. Magellan also partnered with Business Volunteers Unlimited in Maryland to host Do Something! For Children's Wellness, an event that educated the community about important social issues impacting youth and provided an opportunity to network with local not-for-profit organizations.
Honoring Our Nation's Military Community
Magellan launched several initiatives in 2011 to support America's service men and women and their families. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Magellan debuted the Take Mental Health To Heart campaign in conjunction with the National Military Family Association to raise awareness about the important mental wellness issues impacting our armed forces and their families at home. The campaign raised more than $53,000 for the National Military Family Association and generated 1,500 electronic greeting cards and 110 care packages for service members and their families.
In June, Magellan convened the first Hero Health Hire Employment Summit in Washington, D.C., to unite health care businesses, government leaders, military agencies and non-profits in a commitment to support sustainable employment of our nation's disabled veterans. U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy joined Magellan's Dr. Lerer and two dozen other leaders to discuss ways in which the health care industry - which has the nation's strongest projected job growth in the coming years - can recruit, hire and support disabled veterans in their workforce. As part of the program, Magellan offers an employee assistance program specifically tailored for veterans to anyone hired through the Hero Health Hire initiative. Most recently, retired Maj. Gen. Elder Granger joined the program as the honorary chairman to help bolster the program and serve as a liaison to the military community.
At the local level, Magellan employees in Virginia adopted the USS Mesa Verde and provided its 340 sailors with individual care packages; worked with Operation Homefront in Florida to create hurricane preparedness kits for military families; and supported Georgia's Shepherd Center for rehabilitating veterans with a program sponsorship and personalized care packages for residents.
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