New York

These are just a few of the many ways that Aetna, the Aetna Foundation and its employees are making a difference:

• Gave more than $1.8 million in grants, sponsorships and matching grants in New York in 2010
• 7,056 volunteer hours logged by Aetna employees in New York in 2010

Promoting health and wellness at all ages

In Brooklyn, a $25,000 Aetna Foundation award to Berean Community and Family Life Center is helping combat obesity among teenagers through support of the Community Drumline in the North Crown Heights section of the borough.  The drumline uses the traditional cultural expressions of marching, stepping, dance, and drill to encourage fitness, education, and community awareness. As participants are learn the skills and techniques of drumming, step and dance, they also gain creativity, coordination, discipline, self-control and teamwork as they bring these art forms together in lively performances.

Also in Brooklyn, a $20,000 Aetna Foundation grant is supporting the Red Hook Initiative -- an effort to use large urban farms and farmers markets to engage local, low-income residents with ways to eat more healthfully with fresh produce.

A $20,000 Aetna Foundation award is helping the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center eliminate barriers for LGBT people from the Hispanic community in accessing health care.  The organization provides training for health care and social service providers in the distinctive needs of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people, particularly from immigrant populations.  Members of these communities are provided with referrals and health information to access culturally competent health care services and programs. 

Dancing toward better health

Recently the Dance Theatre of Harlem launched the Aetna Foundation Healthy Dancers, Healthy Families Initiative, a multi-year effort funded with a $25,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation to provide 500 local children and their families with a series of workshops on obesity, healthy eating, and dance exercise at its school.  New workshops for children and their parents include Ballet Fit, Adult Ballet, Liturgical Dance and a “Whole Dancer” curriculum. According to the New York City Department of Public Health, 60 percent of adults and 40 percent of children living in Greater Harlem are overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and other serious illnesses.