Beyond Hunger Receives $20,000 Covid-19 Grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois

NEWS RELEASE

CHICAGO– To help ease the ongoing needs of Illinoisans created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) has awarded Beyond Hunger a $20,000 grant as part of BCBSIL’s latest round of giving aimed at helping the helpers.

“This grant will help us ensure hungry families in our community have access to nutritious food, assistance obtaining long-term benefits, and ongoing nutrition education. We are thrilled that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois is continuing to support this vital work.” Michele Zurakowski, PhD, Executive Director, Beyond Hunger.

BCBSIL selected 175 organizations across Illinois with missions focused on access to care, hunger, shelter and behavioral health care, and COVID-19 health education and vaccine access to receive $20,000 grants as part of its COVID-19 Community Collaboration Fund.

“A year into the pandemic and the health, economic and social impacts around Illinois are still great,” said Harmony Harrington, vice-president government and community relations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. “We’re proud to be able to help so many organizations increase their capacity to help more people receive the help they need.”

See the full list of grantees.

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Beyond Hunger creates solutions to end hunger at every stage of life through our comprehensive programs, from feeding kids when school is out, to providing emergency food to families in need, and delivering groceries to homebound older adults. Our community partnerships help us identify pockets of hunger and meet the need together.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) is committed to expanding access to quality, cost-effective health care to as many people as possible in Illinois. BCBSIL is dedicated to innovation and exploring, nurturing and activating future possibilities to make the health care system work better for our members and our communities.