Texanthropy Spotlight: Blue Corps - 2016 Governor’s Volunteer Award Winner
There were eleven GVA winners in 2016 and eight have been highlighted so far. Today I’m going to tell you about the winner of the GVA for Corporate Community Impact: Blue Corps, which is a group of employee volunteers at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
The Corporate Community Impact Award recognizes a private sector entity for implementing employee volunteer programs that have had a positive community impact. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has community service as a core value and business strategy, but they go beyond occasional volunteering and are committed to long-term community engagement. Blue Corps is a perfect example of that. For more than 80 years, Blue Corps employee volunteers have lived, worked, and volunteered in their communities. And not only do Blue Corps employee volunteers give their time, they also earn matching grants for the organizations – which they call Community Partners – they serve. For each hour an employee volunteers with a Community Partner, money is donated to that Partner. In 2015 alone, more than 1,875 Blue Corps employee volunteers donated 33,021 personal volunteer hours to 83 Community Partners, which received $101,380 matching dollars.
Congratulations to Blue Corps for your outstanding commitment to improving your communities and the lives of your neighbors, and thank you to all of the Blue Corps employee volunteers – and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas – for all that you have done to help your fellow Texans succeed.