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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Grant Adds Bike Rentals to Petoskey State Park Through Health Recreation Catalyst Award
Carly Getz
| 2 min read
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is funding new bike rentals in Petoskey State Park, which will be available to the public beginning June 18. The project is a result of the Healthy Recreation Catalyst Awards, a grant program dedicated to funding projects that enhance outdoor recreation opportunities for children, families and older adults, and is expected to fund 14 bikes at the park. The program is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and available to any member of the Michigan Recreation and Park Association (mParks). “Petoskey State Park houses a beautiful biking trail,” said Suzanne Miller Allen, director of Community Responsibility at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “These new bike rentals give residents and tourists the opportunity take advantage of the picturesque trail to get active and enjoy the outdoors. Blue Cross is proud to be part of a program that makes such worthwhile community projects possible.”
Suzanne Miller Allen, director of Community Responsibility at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Dennis McDermott, unit supervisor at Petoskey State Park The bike rentals will be available at Petoskey State Park’s Campground Office. The Petoskey State Park resides on the Little Traverse Wheelway bicycle, which offers 23 miles of scenic bicycling between Charlevoix and Harbor Springs and the 32 mile North Western State Trail connecting Petoskey and Mackinaw. “It’s great to finally be able to offer our visitors onsite bicycle rental so that they can easily explore bike pathways along Lake Michigan without the hassle of lugging their own bikes to and from the site,” said Dennis McDermott, unit supervisor at Petoskey State Park. “We are thankful to our partners at Blue Cross for allowing us to invest in a project that gives our community a fun new way to stay active with friends and family.” The Healthy Recreation Catalyst Award is part of MI Big Green Gym, a partnership between Blue Cross, mParks and the Department of National Resources, dedicated to promoting Michigan’s parks and recreation areas as places to get active and stay healthy. Any mParks agency member in good standing is eligible to apply, with available funds totaling $15,000. Applications are due on Thursday, June 30, 2016. For more information, visit mparks.org/HealthyRecreationCatalyst. 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.
