Prestigious Philanthropy Awards Bestowed Upon Four Major Supporters of Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, WellPoint Foundation, The Wallace Foundation and Altria honored at annual gala in NYC

NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In recognition of record-breaking support for the nation's youth who need it most, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) last night presented prestigious honors to four Great Futures Campaign partners and great friends of young people: Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, WellPoint Foundation, The Wallace Foundation and Altria.

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A partner of Boys & Girls Clubs of America for more than 17 years, Taco Bell Foundation for Teens received the first annual Cornerstone Philanthropy Award for their historic contributions to the Boys & Girls Club Movement, including, most recently, cornerstone support for BGCA's Great Futures Impact Plan for Teens. With some 1 million teens failing to graduate from high school every year, Taco Bell's continued support will help bring critical college and career programs to some 700,000 teen members in hundreds of communities and Clubs throughout the nation by 2018.

The WellPoint Foundation received the second annual Great Futures Award for its groundbreaking support as a Signature Partner of BGCA's Healthy Lifestyles Program. As a signature supporter of BGCA's Great Futures Campaign, the WellPoint Foundation's significant investment will advance BGCA's efforts to combat the growing rate of childhood obesity among our nation's youth. BGCA's holistic health and wellness program, Triple Play, which is co-sponsored by the WellPoint Foundation and The Coca-Cola Company, made close to 1.5 million connections with Club youth in 2012. The WellPoint Foundation's continued support will help bring critical nutrition and exercise programming to even more communities and Clubs throughout the nation.

The Wallace Foundation received the 2013 Foundation Philanthropy Award for its extraordinary support of BGCA's National Arts Initiative and Great Futures Campaign. In addition to unleashing kids' creativity, involvement with the arts can have a tangible impact on students' academic performance. As such, this new initiative will help BGCA advance educational opportunities for young people in Clubs across the country. Working together, the Wallace Foundation and BGCA will create a first-rate, cost-effective scalable model for youth-serving organizations to deliver high-quality arts programing in communities where few other options are available.

The 2013 Corporate Philanthropy Award was presented to Altria for its tremendous support of BGCA's SMART Moves and More Members, More Often initiatives. For nearly a decade, Altria's partnership with BGCA has provided outstanding support for increasing the impact and depth of services offered by Clubs across the country. BGCA's collaborative partnership with Altria's Success360° initiative has been critical in expanding BGCA's capacity to reach more children with vital after-school and summer programs. Altria's support for BGCA's Great Futures Campaign will continue to help Clubs focus on increasing the number of kids they serve, as well as how often members attend.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,000 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 57 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter.

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America