RELEASE
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Donates $25,000 to Midland Community for Disaster Relief Efforts
Brianna Neace
| 2 min read
DETROIT, June 10, 2020 – Following the catastrophic flooding of the greater Midland area, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is contributing $25,000 to the Midland Community Foundation’s #ReliefMidland Flood Relief Project to help support the community’s disaster recovery efforts. During the week of May 17, 2020, multiple days of heavy rain fell across the Great Lakes Bay region causing local rivers to exceed their flood limits, which led to the failure of two major dams and massive flooding of the Village of Sanford, downtown Midland, and most surrounding lands and communities nearest the Tittabawassee River. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 11,000 citizens were successfully evacuated and transported to safe areas though thousands of homes and businesses were left destroyed. Many families have been displaced and will remain that way for the foreseeable future including hundreds of seniors from local senior living establishments. For these families and individuals, the need for food, clean water and personal health and hygiene items is critical. “The Midland community is experiencing unimaginable hardships right now due to the combined effects of COVID-19 and catastrophic flooding,” said Suzanne Miller Allen, director of Community Responsibility at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “It’s important that we all do our part to help these individuals and families not only stay healthy, but move forward and re-build as best and as quickly as possible.” Blue Cross teams are working closely with several local partners in relief efforts, such as the American Red Cross, United Way of Midland County, Greater Midland Community Centers and the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan for additional support in the coming weeks and has also provided 1,000 toothbrushes to the community. To assist with needs not already being met by local organizations, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation extended its mid-year grant-submission deadline to June 12, offering nonprofits in Arenac, Gladwin, Midland and Saginaw counties the opportunity to apply for funding now when they need it most. For more information on how to donate to Midland disaster relief efforts, please visit https://www.211nemichigan.org/covid-19.html. Learn more about Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s community efforts at www.mibluesperspectives.com. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSM provides and administers health benefits to more than 4.5 million members residing in Michigan in addition to employees of Michigan-headquartered companies who reside outside the state. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com and MiBluesPerspectives.com.
