At American Express, Health Means Business

Nancy Testa, Community Health Charities’ board member and American Express Chief Diversity Officer, spoke at the recent U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Health Means Business National Summit about the important role businesses play in a culture of health. American Express has a unique partnership with Community Health Charities, providing custom educational content for employees on the most pressing health issues. Surveying employees before and after the educational campaigns demonstrates measurable increases in impact, awareness, and behavior changes. Nearly $226 billion annually is lost in productivity due to health-related issues every year, so healthier employees are a solid ROI for any business.

American Lung Association Wins Healthy10

Congratulations to our member charity, American Lung Association, for winning two Healthy10 awards for their innovative asthma and Lung Force initiatives. Read more.

Member Charity of the Month: American Heart Association

Community Health Charities is proud to support National Nutrition Month throughout March. Good nutrition plays a key role in leading a healthy lifestyle – and keeping your heart healthy. Combined with physical activity, what you eat can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of heart disease. Check out great tips from American Heart Association, and join the movement to be Healthy for Good: eat smart, add color, move more, and be well.

Health Tip: Feed a Fever or Starve a Cold

Whatever the illness, what you eat matters. If you are trying to recover from a cold or flu, limit your consumption of sugary drinks and snacks. Research has shown that eating refined sugar can temporarily suppress your white blood cells’ ability to fight off bacteria. Read more.

Chicago Health Heroes at Work Focuses on Current State of Health

Congratulations to Elkay Manufacturing, S&C Electric, Network Service Company, State of Illinois Employee Combined Appeal, and Echo Global Logistics for building stronger, healthier communities. These companies joined Cook County President Toni Preckwinckle, Senior Partner at Mercer Health & Benefits Kerry Finnegan, Covenant House CEO Kevin Ryan and other business and nonprofit leaders at Community Health Charities’ Chicago Health Heroes at Work event March 8. Check out the article, listen to the radio interview (starts at 22:00), or read the news release.

Corporate Partner in Focus: Accolade

Following the amazing success of Accolade’s MLK Day of Service, Accolade announced the “Accolade ImpACT Charitable Donation Campaign Kick-off,” its first annual campaign in partnership with Community Health Charities. Its employees will be able to make a charitable donation via payroll deduction to one of over 2,000 of our member charities. Congratulations to Accolade for its success and thanks for being a great workplace giving example!

Cause of the Month: It’s Your Choice

Research shows 83% of Millennials, and 70% of all U.S. employees, would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to social and environmental issues. Want to get your employees more engaged? Check out Community Health Charities’ customized causes.

Community Health Charities News

Understanding Workplace Donor Behavior webinar and slides are now available for review. Explore our proprietary new research on why and how people give, preferences for local versus national charities, what donors expect from charities, and what health issues donors are most interested in supporting. Additionally, we discussed what charities can do to increase trust, transparency and impact, as well as the latest employee engagement trends. Check out the full webinar recording and slides.
Blog Update: Check out Community Health Charities’ President Tom Bognanno’s most recent blogs on Huffington Post:

Upset About the Refugee Crisis? Do Something
Tragic Violence Will Continue until we Make Mental Health a National Priority
9 Resources to Combat Human Trafficking

Member News

Congratulations to the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California on receiving a You Grant from the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation. Funds will support Camp Crescent Moon, the nation’s first and oldest summer camp for children with sickle cell disease.
Tie one on for Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month with The National Hemophilia Foundation as part of their Second Annual Red Tie Challenge in March. This initiative challenges Americans to get creative in wearing a red tie, while raising funds and bringing attention to the more than three million Americans that have a bleeding disorder. Join the challenge and tie one on here.

Health News

Why it’s time we paid employees to exercise at work – LinkedIn.com
The Pain You Can’t See: Erin Andrews Reveals Cervical Cancer Battle – mmqb.com
Zuckerburg Charity Buys AI Startup to Battle Disease – Yahoo Finance

Charitable Giving and Fundraising News

4 Reasons Companies Should Embrace March Madness Office Competitions – Entrepreneur.com
How corporations can be a force for good – The Washington Post
Millennial engagement: Youth are spurred by causes, not party loyalty – Yahoo.com
Digital Donors Changing Charitable Communications – The Nonprofit Times
What the Average American Deducts from Charitable Giving – Motley Fool