Amerigroup Foundation Gift Funds Accessible Entrance for Sugar Plum Bakery

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Amerigroup Foundation today announced that it has donated $25,000 to the Sugar Plum Bakery in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The gift will be used to renovate the building doorway to provide a more accessible entrance for staff members and bakery customers.

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"Our mission is to promote independence," said Trish Clark, executive director of Sugar Plum Bakery. "Through the years, it is the community supporting us, like that of the Amerigroup Foundation, that has helped us to succeed."

Sugar Plum Bakery is a not-for-profit (501(c)3) retail bakery, founded in 1985 by the parents of young adults with developmental disabilities to create a unique employment program and to ease their children's transition into society. Sugar Plum's mission is to promote independence, advocate for and provide competitive employment opportunities and increase community awareness of the worth of individuals with mental and physical disabilities. The operational expenses associated with Sugar Plum's training and employment programs are covered by bakery sales and private and corporate donations. Of their 45 total staff members, Sugar Plum currently employs 23 individuals with disabilities.

"Sugar Plum Bakery is both excited and honored to receive this very generous contribution from the Amerigroup Foundation allowing us to construct a much needed fully accessible and weather protecting entry way," said Thad Nowak, president, board of directors of Sugar Plum Bakery. "Amerigroup's ongoing commitment to helping those with disabilities live independently aligns perfectly with our mission at Sugar Plum to do just that while helping find individualism through training and employment. We are proud to be a local not-for-profit organization and thank the Amerigroup Foundation for their most gracious kindness and generosity."

"Sugar Plum is an innovative program that helps individuals with disabilities learn workplace skills and thrive in the community," said John E. Littel, chairman of the Amerigroup Foundation. "We are pleased and honored to support this program and inspirational mission."

About Sugar Plum Bakery

The mission of Sugar Plum, Inc. is to serve the needs of persons with disabilities through employment, education, and training. Sugar Plum, Inc. will promote the integration of persons with mental and physical disabilities into society by helping them become independent and evolve into working, contributing members of our communities. The organization strives to achieve this mission by: Operating a competitive retail bakery business; Providing supportive and rehabilitation services and training for persons with mental and physical disabilities; Seeking community-based, competitive employment opportunities for persons with disabilities so that they can become financially self-supporting; and Increasing community awareness of the worth of persons with disabilities and of the importance of integrating them into our lives through education and example. For more information, visit http://www.sugarplumbakery.org.  

About the Amerigroup Foundation

The Amerigroup Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Amerigroup Corporation (NYSE: AGP), a multi-state managed health care company based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Foundation works to create healthy communities by fostering access to health care, encouraging safe and healthy children and families, and promoting community improvement and healthy neighborhoods. For more information about the Amerigroup Foundation, visit www.amerigroupcorp.com/foundation. 

SOURCE The Amerigroup Foundation