Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Honored with Leadership Award

On February 26, 2004 the Corporate Volunteerism Council Twin Cities (CVC) honors Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota for its outstanding corporate volunteer program with the presentation of CVC’s 2003 Leadership Award.

The Corporate Volunteerism Council’s Leadership Award recognizes the outstanding leadership of the Heart of Blue Volunteer Program. “Blue Cross demonstrated its leadership to volunteerism by methodically and meticulously launching an employee-led volunteer program that will touch the lives of thousands of young people and families,” notes CVC president Kathleen Lucht. “Blue Cross employees are committed to numerous community projects, exemplifying the company’s values of social responsibility and compassion.”

Heart of Blue components include a volunteer council with a charter, a formal volunteer release policy, an internal volunteer database, and a Dollars for Doers program. Volunteer activities include painting homes of low-income seniors through Paint-a-Thon, assisting with the Special Olympics Minnesota summer games, an e-mentoring program with students at Dakota Hills Middle School, and a “Healing Hats” drive to benefit chemotherapy patients.

Unique to Heart of Blue compared to other corporate volunteer programs is the formal volunteer release policy. Oftentimes, the policy to allow employees to volunteer during work is informal, and the number of companies offering paid volunteer leave time is small nationwide. Blue Cross manages this policy as an official Human Resources policy. Employees with at least six months of service have access to 20 hours of release time for volunteer service, provided the organization and activity adheres to their guidelines. In its first year, Blue Cross employees used more than 7,000 volunteer release hours or the equivalent of a person working full-time in the community for three years. The value of this time, as determined by Independent Sector, is over $115,780. In addition, through the Dollars for Doers program sixty employees were recognized for their volunteerism with a certificate and $200 contribution to the nonprofit organization for which they volunteer.

“We are honored to receive the CVC Leadership Award. Volunteer efforts are one of the important ways we demonstrate our commitment to make a healthy difference in people’s lives,” said Mark W. Banks, M.D., Blue Cross President and CEO. “This award acknowledges the tremendous volunteer efforts of our employees.”

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