Orphans with HIV/AIDS and Family Health and Wellness Programs to Benefit from Constella's Enhancing Human Health Grants

Source : http://findarticles.com
Business Wire, July 30, 2007

DURHAM, N.C. -- Constella Group, a leading global provider of professional health services, announced that it has awarded $20,000 to four organizations to improve the lives of orphans living with HIV/AIDS, to reduce stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, to promote health and wellness programs for families, and to improve overall health and well-being of children.

"Through our corporate philanthropy program, we encourage employee volunteerism by awarding Enhancing Human Health grants to organizations where employees actively volunteer," said Donald A. Holzworth, Constella Group chairman and CEO. "We are proud to support organizations dedicated to improving the health and lives of children, individuals and families. The important work of each organization and its members exemplifies volunteerism at its best and advances Constella's vision of enhancing human health around the world, every day."

Constella awarded $7,500 to Reaching a Generation, Inc. (RaG-ZA), a non-profit charitable organization headquartered in South Africa, which strives to empower communities to provide relief care for HIV/AIDS orphans, HIV/AIDS prevention education for children and life-skills training for educators across South Africa. Constella's grant will enable RaG-US to extend its existing website services, to create new collateral fundraising materials and to further develop a child sponsorship program in the United States.

Constella awarded $5,000 to the Decatur Education Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that nurtures and supports academic achievement and enrichment opportunities for children in Decatur, Georgia. The grant will support "Strength and Conditioning," a wellness program for selected adolescents, who are either overweight, at risk of becoming overweight or struggle with poor self-image. The program will offer fitness coaching to encourage physical activity and healthy eating habits.

Constella awarded $5,000 to the Blue Diamond Society (BDS), an organization in Nepal that supports and protects the rights of sexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) communities. Its mission is to create societal acceptance of sexual minorities; to reduce stigma, discrimination, violence and brutality against sexual minorities; to reduce high-risk sexual behaviors and to encourage the use of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) services among sexual minorities to prevent STI/HIV infection. The organization also provides care and support for those sexual minorities who are HIV positive. BDS will use the grant to support its HIV/STD prevention and medical services.

The Foundation for the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), awarded $2,500, offers a health and wellness program designed and facilitated by students enrolled in the health and wellness undergraduate curriculum. Getting Into Fitness Together (GIFT) is a program for families struggling with weight or fitness issues. Participants engage in physical activity and receive mentoring and incentives for healthy habits. GIFT 2007 families represented multiple minority groups where there is an increased likelihood of obesity and obesity-related disease. Constella will enable expansion of the program by covering the cost of equipment, supplies and incentives. The funding will also allow an honorarium for a student intern to assist in directing the program.

"On behalf of Nepalese sexual minority communities, Blue Diamond Society would like to express our gratitude to Constella Group for this grant," said Sunil Pant, president of BDS. "This support is much needed during what is a crucial time in Nepal for HIV/STD related services. We are also very proud of our friend Philippa Lawson (a Constella Group employee) for her long-term voluntary support which has been, and will be, extremely valuable and important to our struggle for justice and health services needed for sexual minority communities in Nepal."

About Constella Group's Corporate Philanthropy Program
In 2006, Constella established its Corporate Philanthropy Program to support non-profit organizations across the world that share the company's goal toward achieving a healthy and disease-free world. The program encourages employee volunteerism and community service by limiting Enhancing Human Health Grants only to organizations where employees actively volunteer. Under the leadership of its corporate philanthropy officer, Constella established a company-wide representative committee responsible for reviewing grant applications and deciding which grants, and at what amount, Constella should fund. For more information on Constella's Corporate Philanthropy Program contact Jesse Milan, corporate philanthropy officer, at 202.777.0945 or at jmilan@constellagroup.com

About Constella Group
Constella Group is a leading provider of professional health services worldwide, dedicated to enhancing human health around the world, every day. Through its work in health sciences, international development, and pharmaceutical product development, Constella creates and provides health intelligence to help industry and government clients identify and solve critical problems affecting human health. The company's 1,500 employees serve clients from company headquarters in Durham, N.C., from U.S. offices in Research Triangle Park, N.C.; Washington, D.C; Rockville and Frederick, Md.; Glastonbury, Conn.; Atlanta; and Morgantown, W.Va., from U.K.-based offices in Bath, Oxford and Cambridge; from offices in Cologne, Germany; Paris, France; and New Delhi, India; and from client sites and other offices across the world. For more information, visit http://www.constellagroup.com/.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Business WireCOPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group