Largest day of Blue Cross service benefits Trudeau

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 10/8/15

As part of Blue Across RI, Blue Cross and Blue Sheild of Rhode Island’s company-wide day of service, nearly 25 volunteers visited the J. Arthur Trudeau’s Adult Day of Service on Friday. …

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Largest day of Blue Cross service benefits Trudeau

Posted

As part of Blue Across RI, Blue Cross and Blue Sheild of Rhode Island’s company-wide day of service, nearly 25 volunteers visited the J. Arthur Trudeau’s Adult Day of Service on Friday.

Volunteers painted the walls in the facility on Commonwealth Avenue and even participated as well as taught some of the day program classes. The improvements are estimated to benefit 200 participants in Trudeau’s day programs.

Almost 700 employees spread out across the state at 13 different community projects for the largest single company day of service. Other projects included assembling emergency hygiene kits for The Changing Table in Newport County, packaging footwear for the homeless through Gotta Have Sole, and upgrading spaces at various Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs.

Blue Across Rhode Island is an initiative started by President and CEO Peter Andruszkiewicz, who said, “Blue Across Rhode Island has taken on a life of its own over the past four

years, and we couldn’t be prouder of the impact Blue Cross has made. It’s a privilege to work together with our fellow Rhode Islanders to build healthier, happier communities.”

On top of the volunteer services provided by BCBSRI, more than $65,000 was distributed in grant funding between all the sights. Trudeau received $5,000.

Judith Sullivan, president and CEO of the Trudeau Center, said, “We are thrilled to be one of just 13 sites chosen for the Blue Across RI day of service. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI’s commitment to the community is outstanding and they’ve made a tremendous difference. The work they did will save our team over 100 hours of time.”

Shawn Moran, one of two project captains at Trudeau and a financial analyst for BCBSRI, said, “We do whatever we need to. We often hear that with this focused effort we can get done in a day what would otherwise take an organization months.”

Moran said almost 75 percent of the company goes out to do service with just enough in the office to keep them running.

Many of the projects are to help “beautify and generally improve” the facilities in any way they can.

Just as much as the community projects benefit any one facility, Julie Meninno, project captain and a wellness consultant for BCBSRI, said employees are fulfilled after a day of service and can feel proud to be a BCBSRI employee.

“It’s good for us to see the people we are impacting every day,” she said.

“We are part of Rhode Island, giving back, helping out, that’s part of being a community,” Moran said. “We are people of Rhode Island, not just a company.”

Moran explained that after these days of service, employees feel compelled to continue volunteering with their sites, and often people create lasting relationships. BCBSRI will continue to collaborate with Trudeau; Meninno suggested hosting a wellness class through BCBSRI for Trudeau employees and Moran said many of the volunteers would like to attend a play they heard would be put on by participants of the day programs.

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