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In 2008, The Wellmark Foundation made grant commitments
to Iowa and South Dakota non-profit and governmental organizations
totaling $3,332,791 through 21 grants. Brief descriptions
of the projects are listed below and are arranged by state
and priority area of focus.
IOWA AWARDS BY
PRIORITY AREA
The Wellmark Foundation funded 15 grants in Iowa totaling
$2,571,475 through its 2008 funding opportunities. Brief descriptions
of the projects are included below and arranged by priority
area of focus.
Disaster
Relief
- The Wellmark Foundation contributed $1 million to the
Embrace Iowa 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund, established in response
to 2008’s severe weather and historic flooding in
Iowa. The Embrace Iowa 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund will provide
a statewide fundraising effort for Iowans affected by 2008
storms and flooding. The Fund, housed and administered by
the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, will support
the collection of private donations and other funds given
in support of statewide recovery efforts and the distribution
of funds to community efforts across Iowa.
Childhood
Obesity Prevention
- The Burgess Foundation in Onawa received a $93,558 grant
to implement a childhood obesity prevention project in the
Monona County. The project will promote lifelong physical
activity and healthy habits among children through community
capacity-building, policy, youth programming and family
programming. Plans include working with the school board
to approve new policies, training volunteer staff to supervise
before and after school use of fitness equipment, and implementing
family activities including mini-health fairs and family
fun nights.
- Des Moines Public Schools will use a $46,991 one-year
grant to prevent childhood obesity by creating a fitness
arcade designed to increase physical activity of students
at Merrill Middle School. The fitness arcade will use technology-driven
games that require students to be physically active in order
to play. Although the arcade will be available to all students,
the program will target high-risk students and their families.
- Healthy Henry County Communities in Mt. Pleasant received
a $135,500 grant to enhance a childhood obesity prevention
program targeting children in kindergarten through eighth
grade. The program continues an ongoing wellness initiative
to improve childhood weight issues in the county, which
has been supported by previous Wellmark Foundation grants
and a Harkin Wellness grant. New programming will include
innovative outreach and services to engage Hispanic children.
- A $64,428 grant will allow the Iowa Department of Public
Health to develop a new body mass index (BMI) surveillance
system for elementary students across the state. The system
will provide consistent and standardized data on children’s
weight status so that effective strategies to improve overweight
in children can be implemented and monitored.
- A $105,000 grant will allow the Iowa Health Foundation
in Des Moines to pilot a national childhood obesity prevention
program in after-school programs in the West Des Moines
and Perry Community School Districts. The grant will implement
work planned through a previous Wellmark Foundation capacity-building
grant received in 2007.
- Iowa State University in Ames will use a $148,909 grant
to impact healthy food choices in schools. A nutrition program
designed to identify best practice nutrition guidelines
for foods sold outside of school meals will be piloted in
six communities. Based on these findings, a model will be
developed to assist schools when implementing these nutrition
guidelines.
- The Trinity Health Foundation in Fort Dodge received a
$145,500 grant to develop a school-based wellness and obesity
prevention program targeting students in kindergarten through
eighth grade. This multi-faceted program will include curriculum
enhancements, daily physical education classes, a walking
initiative and an after-school swimming program provided
in collaboration with the local YMCA.
- The University of Iowa Foundation received an $87,278
grant to implement a school-based nutrition improvement
project designed to prevent childhood obesity through improved
concessions stand offerings at sporting events. The 18-month
project will evaluate current food offerings, identify barriers
to healthy options, implement new offerings, and evaluate
the sales and profitability of new offerings. A how-to guide
based on findings will be created and distributed to other
community groups.
Community-Based
Wellness and Prevention
- Communities in Schools of Cedar Valley, Inc. in Waterloo
received an $88,974 grant to enhance a successful school-based
health education program designed to prevent teen pregnancy
and sexually transmitted infections, and to increase self
esteem among youth ages 12-19 years. Identified disparities
in African American girls will be addressed by creating
a Youth of Color coalition and offering a culturally appropriate
summer health education program.
- A $149,833 grant was awarded to the Elderbridge Agency
on Aging in Mason City to expand a wellness program for
older adults to 24 congregate meal sites. The program incorporates
balance, flexibility and strength training, as well as nutrition
and health education segments to promote healthy aging.
The project replicates an initiative originally launched
at one congregate meal site in 2007 through support of a
Wellmark Foundation mini-grant.
- The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) was awarded
a 22-month, $150,000 grant to create a statewide health
data warehouse. The warehouse will collect, organize, and
disseminate important health information from multiple sources
across Iowa. A 2007 capacity-building grant from the Foundation
supported establishment of a user-group as part of the research
phase in the warehouse development plan. The warehouse will
provide local public health partners and other stakeholders
with online, interactive access to health data, which they
will use to conduct evidence-based needs assessments and
identify health priorities and prevention targets in their
communities.
- A $150,000 grant to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
in Des Moines will support construction of a 25-mile paved
trail in central Iowa. This funding intends to promote community
wellness by increasing options for exercise and healthy
lifestyle choices. Efforts to encourage use of the trail
for health improvement will also be implemented.
- Mercy Medical Center Foundation in Sioux City received
a $100,504 grant to implement an awareness program focused
on improving access to colorectal cancer screenings. Strategies
include working with physician clinics to identify and contact
persons who have not undergone recommended colorectal cancer
screenings, a community-wide social marketing campaign,
and an educational exhibit including a 40-foot long fiberglass
colon display.
- A $105,000 grant will allow the Polk County Agricultural
Extension District in Des Moines to improve community wellness
through a nutrition improvement project focused on vending
machines. A nationally recognized survey instrument will
be modified to examine the nutritional value of offerings
in vending environments. After piloting in six communities,
the organization will create a community report card process
and online reporting system.
SOUTH DAKOTA AWARDS
BY PRIORITY AREA
The Wellmark Foundation funded 6 grants in South Dakota totaling
$761,316. Brief descriptions of the projects are included
below and arranged by priority area of focus.
Childhood
Obesity Prevention
- The South Dakota Department of Health in Pierre received
a $150,000 grant to develop a childhood obesity prevention
program targeting children 2-5 years of age in child care
settings. The South Dakota Departments of Health, Social
Services and Education will collaborate to assist more than
200 child care facilities across the state to increase vegetable
intake and physical activity of this target population.
- Youth & Family Services, Inc. (YFS) in Rapid City
received a $150,000 grant to implement and expand a childhood
obesity prevention program targeting 2,000 children in western
South Dakota. The project will utilize the evidence-based
childhood obesity prevention approach, I Am Moving,
I am Learning, that has been used effectively in more
than 100 Head Start programs nationally since 2006.
Community-Based
Wellness and Prevention
- Catholic Social Services in Rapid City will use a $50,000
grant to support a wellness and prevention curriculum for
elementary students living on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud
Reservations in South Dakota. The culturally specific curriculum
will teach 1000 elementary students how to live a healthy
lifestyle based on their Lakota tradition. The program will
also offer knowledge and resources on how to resist peer
pressure, abstain from substance abuse and avoid violence.
This Wellmark Foundation grant will provide matching funds
to leverage a four-year, $330,284 Local Funding Partnerships
grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a three-year,
$210,213 grant from The Bush Foundation supporting this
program.
- The Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD)
in Sioux Falls received a $150,000 grant to implement a
preventive oral health program targeting 600 individuals
by hosting the Delta Dental’s Dakota Smiles mobile
dental program at 24 clinics in three underserved Community
Health Center (CHC) service areas. Services provided will
include oral health education to patients, outreach activities
in the communities, tobacco cessation counseling, and training
CHC clinical staff on basic oral health techniques.
- Sanford Research/USD in Sioux Falls received a $141,316
grant to expand a wellness and health education project
in South Dakota elementary schools. A 2007 Wellmark Foundation
grant funded the initial project, which created and piloted
a coordinated health education curriculum for students in
kindergarten through fifth grade.
- The South Dakota Department of Health in Pierre will use
a $120,000 grant to implement a project through the All
Women Count! Program that will provide breast cancer screenings
for low-income and underinsured South Dakota women who are
not served by other funding sources. Dedicated outreach
to Native American women will be initiated to address documented
health disparities.
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