For Immediate Release
September 13, 2006

Contact: Anna Beard
(509) 228-6016
anna.beard@asuris.com

Asuris employees donate time, talent and money for Blankies Program

(Spokane) – Today, a child in crisis might need a little extra warmth, and the generosity of Asuris Northwest Health employees and the Wishing Star Blankie Program will help give that warmth to children in our area.  Employees of Asuris donated 35 handmade blankets to the Wishing Star Foundation of Spokane, to be distributed to local emergency workers and hospitals for critically ill children and children facing traumatic events.

Employees created the blankets, which included several high-quality hand-sewn quilts, for our Team Regence summer drive. Most of the Asuris’s 17 staff members contributed to the drive in one way or another; many helped purchase supplies, while several gave their own time and talent to produce the blankets. Lois Terrill, Associate Sales & Account Representative for Asuris, designed three beautiful custom quilts for the drive. Several other employees got together for a day-long blanket-making party, bringing family members and working as a team to produce more than two dozen fleece blankets with whimsical themes and patterns.

Wishing Star blankets are given to “wish” kids in Central and Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Wish kids are children who are hospitalized or critically ill, or who have been removed from their home by police or other emergency workers because of a crisis such as a fire. A warm, clean blanket is practical and can help comfort children in these times of need, Susan DeLano, Wishing Star development director, said.

“Sometimes it’s the cleanest thing they have and the only thing they have,” she said.

Asuris employees Kathy Yates, PJ Rosenberg and Bob Boone helped deliver the blankets Wednesday, Sept. 13 to representatives of Wishing Star, which is largely run through volunteer efforts.

About Asuris Northwest Health
Based in Spokane, Asuris Northwest Health offers a full range of health care coverage options, including dental and vision coverage, for Eastern Washington employers and individuals. Asuris also offers Medicare supplemental plans and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, and provides member access to more than 19,000 health care providers. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.asurisnorthwesthealth.com. Asuris Northwest Health, a not-for-profit health plan, is a subsidiary of Regence BlueShield, a leading health plan in Washington.

###

« Back to News Media Index