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Boise, ID - October 8, 2004. Olympian
Kristin Armstrong was at Blue Cross of Idaho
this morning to help hand out $12,000 to two lucky Boise
charities. Armstrong finished in eighth place in the women’s
road race in Athens, just three seconds behind the bronze
medalist. She was the first American woman to finish in
the top ten in an Olympic road race in more than a dozen
years.
Armstrong
was on hand to help the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for
Health present two $6,000 checks. The Treasure Valley Family
YMCA and the Humphreys Diabetes Education Center were selected
as beneficiaries of the 2004 Blue Cruise charity bike ride.
The annual event, which attracted nearly 300 cyclists, took
place on Sunday, August 15, the same day that Armstrong
was competing in Athens.
The
Humphreys Diabetes Education Center will use the funds to
help support their Sweet Kids Day Camp program. Coordinator
Jeannee Diaz called the donation a wonderful gift! “Our
Sweet Kids Day Camp is a health and wellness camp for children
ages 3-7 with diabetes. The children have lots of fun with
their friends at camp while also learning lifesaving, lifelong
habits and skills. These funds will help directly sponsor
kids for our 2005 camp.”
The
Treasure Valley Family YMCA will use the donation to help
its Y Kids in Motion program, which provides recreational
opportunities for children with life threatening diseases.
“When your child is recovering from a life threatening
illness, the last thing a parent wants to tell their child
is that they cannot financially afford to let them participate
in a fun, healthy program. The contribution from the Blue
Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health will allow us to provide
this program to all qualifying kids regardless of their
financial situation,” said Laura Mahan, Youth Director
for the YMCA.
Gary Dyer, Vice Chairman of the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation
for Health, helped Armstrong hand out the checks. He said
the excitement generated around her race at the Olympics
happening on the same day as the Blue Cruise helped get
out more riders. “We had close to 300 cyclists of all
ages participate in this year’s event. That is almost
double the number that participated in our inaugural ride
in 2003. We are honored to be able support outstanding programs
like the YMCA’s Y Kids in Motion and Humphreys Diabetes
Center Sweet Kids Day Camp. These programs are making a
difference in kids’ lives and we want to do our part
to help make these programs even bigger and better.”
Armstong
was joined at the Olympic Celebration by over 35 kids from
the YMCA and Humphreys Diabetes Center. All of the kids
were given “gold” medals for their participation
in the event and most of them also took home a color poster
autographed by Armstrong. Blue Cross of Idaho used Armstrong’s
visit to not only celebrate the Blue Cruise donations but
also to conclude a very successful, week-long, United Way
fundraising campaign. The company and its 650 employees
raised nearly $100,000 for The United Way of Treasure Valley.
Mark
your calendars for Sunday, August 14, 2005. That is the
scheduled date for next year’s Blue Cruise Wheels for
Wellness charity bike ride.
  
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