Press release submitted by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation
The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation has announced that the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden in Harvard was awarded $250 from the Foundation’s Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant program. David Martin, an employee of NTT Data Service, nominated the organization for the award. Funds will be used to support the facilitation of therapy groups for cancer patients and survivors.
To commemorate those Harvard Pilgrim members who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, Harvard Pilgrim and the Foundation created the Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant program. This program allows each Harvard Pilgrim and NTT Data employee to award a $250 - $500 grant, completely funded by the Foundation, to the local charity of his or her choice each calendar year. Since this community grants program began in 2002, Harvard Pilgrim employees have directed more than $5.2 million to thousands of organizations throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
“We are so fortunate to have generous and dedicated employees who enrich our company and the communities in which we all live and work,” said Karen Voci, President of the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation. “The Mini-Grant program is a wonderful way to support our employees as philanthropists and to help them make an impact in their own cities and towns.”
In 2016, more than 96% of Harvard Pilgrim employees participated in at least one form of service or giving through volunteering, the Mini-Grants program, or Harvard Pilgrim’s annual Employee Fundraising Campaign.
About The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation
Created in 1980, The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation supports Harvard Pilgrim's mission to improve the quality and value of health care for the people and communities we serve by providing the tools, training and leadership to help build healthy communities throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $140 million in funds. In 2016, the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation awarded more than $2.4 million in grants to nearly 900 nonprofit organizations within the four states. For more information, please visit www.harvardpilgrim.org/foundation.