Month: March 2023

Originally published on Aflac Newsroom

COLUMBUS, Ga., March 22, 2023 /3BL Media/ — Continuing its commitment to helping provide children with cancer and blood disorders comfort and tools that help them cope with mental and emotional stresses of diagnosis and treatment, The Aflac Foundation Inc. this week donated $1.5 million to the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Earmarked for family support services, this year’s annual donation will help address patient mental and emotional well-being throughout 2023 and brings Aflac’s funding support of the pediatric cancer and blood disorders cause to over $166 million since 1995.

“Aflac continues to provide funding for treatment and research, but we also understand that children need more than medicine when going through a medical crisis,” said Kathelen Amos, president of The Aflac Foundation Inc. “For every child with a cancer or blood disorder diagnosis, there is a family in crisis. The needs and concerns of the parents and siblings include, but are not limited to, those directly concerning the patient. We are pleased to help fund the ever-increasing array of holistic and support services that Children’s offers to the patients and families of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.”

Aflac’s donation will help fund the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center’s 35-person Family Support Team, which includes social workers, child life specialists, non-denominational chaplains and music therapists who work in tandem with medical staff to provide therapeutic activities, positive distractions and social support for both patients and families. Major medical insurance does not typically cover family support services, leaving hospitals dependent on philanthropic support to continue the program that cost the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center $2.5 million in 2021. In the same year, Family Support Team members provided services to a majority of the more than 8,000 children receiving care at the Center, many giving support to their families, as well.

“Because a diagnosis of cancer or a blood disorder impacts all aspects of family life, the common goal of the specialists, therapists and volunteers that make up the Family Support Team is to ensure that the family feels cared for and supported as they adjust and cope, every step of the way,” said Certified Child Life Specialist Lucy Tyler, the Center’s lead Child Life Specialist in Outpatient Oncology. “We concentrate on the emotional and mental aspects of a childhood illness that, if left unaddressed, can have long-term negative effects on a child and his or her family.”

According to Tyler, across different roles, the support team offers distraction and fun through art and music, helps with schoolwork, explains medical procedures in terms a child can understand, provides a safe space to show anger or frustration, helps parents navigate and find financial resources, and more.

The latest donation by The Aflac Foundation Inc. further strengthens the company’s commitment to help support psychosocial needs of children with cancer and blood disorders such as sickle cell in addition to providing funding for treatment and research.

In 2018, after nearly two years of research with health care professionals and families, Aflac introduced My Special Aflac Duck®, the award-winning robotic companion and app designed to help patients communicate their emotions with caregivers, teach them about their treatment through medical play, provide distraction and fun with music and art, reinforce comfort and coping skills, and more.

To date, the company has given, free-of-charge, more than 22,000 My Special Aflac Ducks to children with cancer and sickle cell across the United States, Japan and Northern Ireland at a cost of more than $3.5 million to the company.

For more information about Aflac’s commitment to children with cancer and blood disorders, including how they can receive My Special Aflac Duck free of charge, visit AflacChildhoodCancer.org. To learn more about the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, go to choa.org/medical-services/cancer-and-blood-disorders. For more information about how Aflac policies help close gaps left by expenses health insurance doesn’t cover, including some associated with mental health services, go to Aflac.com.

ABOUT AFLAC INCORPORATED
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL), a Fortune 500 company, has helped provide financial protection and peace of mind for more than 67 years to millions of policyholders and customers through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac is the No. 1 provider of supplemental health insurance products.1 In Japan, Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of cancer and medical insurance policies in force. In 2021, the company became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). In 2022, the company was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for the ninth year, the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for the 17th consecutive year, Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for the 22nd time and Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn’t cover, get to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/espanol. Investors may learn more about Aflac Incorporated and its commitment to ESG and social responsibility at investors.aflac.com under “Sustainability.”

1 LIMRA 2021 U.S. Supplemental Health Insurance Total Market Report.

Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus and American Family Life Assurance Company of New York.

Media contact – Jon Sullivan, 706-763-4813 or jsullivan@aflac.com

Analyst and investor contact – David A. Young, 706-596-3264, 800-235-2667 or dyoung@aflac.com

SOURCE Aflac

CINCINNATI, March 22, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Fifth Third Bank presented capital readiness grant awards last week to two Cincinnati business owners. The winners were Dr. Jamila Maddox of Cincinnati Healing Arts and Arielle Nelson of Saturday Morning Vibes Cereal Bar, both located in Avondale.

The two business owners were among 20 selected as part of a capital readiness program in 10 neighborhoods that have received significant investment from Fifth Third Bank. Nine of the neighborhoods, including Avondale, are part of the Bank’s $180 million Empowering Black Futures Neighborhood Program; the other is in Detroit, where Fifth Third’s first adopted community, Gratiot/7 mile, is located.

For the capital readiness program, the Association for Enterprise Opportunity selected 20 entrepreneurs to work with the organization to stabilize and grow their businesses. Each entrepreneur will complete Business Health Assessments, access personalized learning plans through AEO’s online learning platform, RESILI™, and receive trusted guidance with AEO’s network of small business coaches. Additionally, each entrepreneur will receive $5,300 in small business grant funding from Fifth Third’s Empowering Black Futures Neighborhood Program.

“Business ownership is a key driver of wealth in communities and through generations. I could not think of a better way to advance the broader mission of racial equity than to support wealth creation in communities that have historically experienced wealth extraction,” says Connie Evans, President, and CEO of AEO. “By positioning Black-owned businesses to obtain capital and grow, we are empowering not just individual entrepreneurs, but entire communities to seize control of their own economic futures.”

“Small businesses like Cincinnati Healing Arts and Saturday Morning Vibes Cereal Bar are the lifeblood of our communities,” said Tim Elsbrock, Cincinnati Region Bank President. “We are proud to support these black owned businesses through capital readiness grants and technical assistance so that they can continue to thrive and leverage these dollars to keep them in Avondale.”

“My chiropractic and nutrition wellness boutique located in the Avondale Town Center (in the heart of a low-income community) is responsive to black and brown residents whose healthcare needs are often discounted or unmet, said Dr. Jamila Maddox, owner of Cincinnati Healing Arts LLC. “The Empowering Black Futures Program will enable me to continue providing timely patient education and healthcare while continuing to stabilize my business.”

Cincinnati grant recipient Arielle Nelson of Saturday Morning Vibes Cereal Bar said, “To be chosen to participate in the EBF program feels incredible. This opportunity to receive grant funding, business resources and expert coaching will give SMV Cereal Bar the boost it needs to be a successful, thriving business.”

The program is part of Fifth Third’s  $2.8 billion Accelerating Racial Equity, Equality and Inclusion Initiative providing $2.2 billion in lending, $500 million in investments, $60 million in financial accessibility and $40 million in philanthropy which encompasses the Empowering Black Futures Neighborhood Program. The initiative is focused on four strategic pillars to create more equitable outcomes for its customers and communities through strategic investments, access to capital, financial inclusion and education, and social justice and advocacy. The Empowering Black Futures Capital Readiness Program runs from January through August 2023.

March 22, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Ceres urges Congress to pass the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act to establish a clear, comprehensive, and practical framework that protects overburdened communities from pollution and helps workers transition into a thriving clean energy economy.

“As America’s public and private sectors continue to invest in building an advanced, affordable clean-energy economy, the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act is critical to ensuring all U.S. communities benefit from this generational shift,” said Zach Friedman, director of federal policy, Ceres.

Introduced today and named for the late congressman who championed environmental justice and climate action on Capitol Hill, the bill features several critical regulatory and statutory reforms, as well as funding to bolster environmental justice programs and jobs training to ensure workers are not left behind in the shift to a cleaner economy. Developed with broad-based community input, it takes care to balance the needs of communities, public health, and the economy.

“The U.S. is long overdue for this level of ambitious environmental justice action. Ceres calls on Congress to advance the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act to ensure businesses, investors, and other stakeholders have a clear and predictable framework as we move to address long-standing environmental harm in marginalized communities. This legislation would positively impact the U.S. economy by improving public health, preventing future costly environmental cleanups, and investing in a fund to ensure fossil fuel workers are not left behind in the clean energy transition. These principles are critical to building a clean economy that works for all of America, and they must also be upheld as Congress considers permitting reform in the coming months,” Friedman added.

Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit that works with leading companies and investors on sustainability practices and policies, joined with Earthjustice and other sustainability and environmental justice organizations in a joint letter supporting the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act. Ceres federal policy team staff were present at the bill’s introductory press conference today, and the organization intends to actively advocate for its measures during the current Congress.

In recent years, Ceres has bolstered corporate support for environmental justice policy by educating and engaging companies about the disproportionate racial and socioeconomic impacts of pollution, building a private-sector framework to support environmental justice policy, emphasizing that the business benefits of climate action also benefit overburdened communities, and working to ensure that all workers and communities can participate in the advanced clean-energy economy that companies and investors support. Among its efforts, Ceres has:

Called for the California Air Resource Board’s 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan to be highly attentive to the needs of environmental justice communities and supported the creation of an Office of Racial Equity in the California government;Provided detailed written comments informed by both environmental justice and investor partners to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund meets key environmental justice needs, such as partnering with local financial institutions embedded in their communities and supporting economic empowerment of low-income and disadvantaged communities.Urged stronger EPA standards for pollution from fine particulate matter, which disproportionately harms people of color and those of lower incomes.

About Ceres

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy to build a just and sustainable future. For more information, visit ceres.org and follow @CeresNews.