AMERIGROUP Community Care - Live Well - Viva Bien

Community Outreach • February 2009

On behalf of AMERIGROUP Community Care, we look forward to continued success together in 2009.

Health Presentations Offering Healthy Tips

In an effort to keep Maryland healthy, AMERIGROUP Community Care (AMERIGROUP) provides health presentations in both English and Spanish to children and adults throughout the year. Health education representatives provide information about fire prevention, nutrition, summer safety and family wellness.

During the presentations, health educators distribute material that helps attendees develop an understanding of the topics. Fun giveaways like coloring books, nutrition magnets and stickers are part of the education presentation and encourage participation. In addition to the presentation, the AMERIBus provides AMERIGROUP the ability to offer screenings and one-on-one education.

Health Education topics for 2009 include: fire prevention and safety, dental health, poison prevention, immunization awareness, nutrition, summer safety, sun safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, food safety, breast cancer awareness, home safety and flu/germ prevention. If you’re interested in a presentation for your community or organization, please e-mail [email protected].

Asthma Essay Contest

1st Place Winner – Adrianne Robinson

A child with asthma can sometimes feel that the disease controls his or her life. Every year, AMERIGROUP holds the Life Without Limits Asthma Contest. This contest provides children with an opportunity to celebrate their success with controlling asthma. The goal of the contest is to teach children that asthma does not have to limit everyday activities. It provides an avenue for members to be creative and showcase their success stories. The contest also enables AMERIGROUP to find role models for others who suffer from asthma.

Recipe of the Month

Studies show that more and more Americans are considered obese or overweight. To encourage everyone to eat healthy foods, AMERIGROUP will provide a healthy recipe of the month in each newsletter. Please submit your healthy recipe ideas to us for consideration in upcoming newsletters.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 ¾ cup sifted flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. With a hand mixer, beat eggs well in a small bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the vegetable oil to a large bowl and sprinkle in the sugar a little at a time while continuing to beat mixture until fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture in the large bowl and beat well.
5. Add some of the flour mixture to the large bowl and beat well. Then add some of the mashed bananas and beat some more. Continue alternating the flour and banana, and mix until everything is combined.
6. Pour mixture into the baking pan. Bake for 70 minutes.
7. Flip your banana bread out of the pan, let it cool. Cut it into slices and share!

The Gift of Sharing

In what is becoming an annual event, the AMERIGROUP marketing team assembled food baskets at the SHARE Food Network. The food baskets were delivered to community and faith-based organizations that then distributed the boxes to needy families to help them celebrate the holidays.

“We would like to express our gratitude to AMERIGROUP for donating the food boxes to be distributed to our clients. They certainly benefited tremendously at a time when unemployment and the economic crisis had hit them so hard. Thank you so much for always keeping our clients and our organization in your thoughts,” said Evelyn Rosario, Community Services Supervisor for Catholic Charities.

AMERIGROUP marketing staff assembles boxes of food for needy families.

Healthy Heroes Awarded

The AMERIGROUP Foundation presented five Healthy Hero Awards in 2008. Recipients included organizations and individuals who demonstrated outstanding leadership by improving the overall well-being of the community, enhancing health-related initiatives or served as advocates for low-income families in the area.

Honorees included: American Diabetes Association; The Family Tree; Beverly Byron, Montgomery County Shaken Baby and Family Violence Prevention Program; Leroy Fowlkes, Mercy Medical Center – Supportive Housing Program; and Susan Sweitzer, Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America.

Susan Sweitzer, Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, receives a Healthy Hero award from Diana Quinn, Senior Health Promotion Coordinator, AMERIGROUP Community Care.