Apply now for the Alberta Blue Cross® Built Together grant.
Alberta Blue Cross® is looking to support community organizations across the province in promoting active living infrastructure as it brings back its popular Built Together grant program for 2024.
“This is the eleventh year of the Alberta Blue Cross® Built Together grant program,” says Brian Geislinger, senior vice-president of Corporate Relations and Community Engagement with Alberta Blue Cross®. “Over the life of the program, we’ve provided $2.4 million in funding to upwards of 50 projects supporting active living in Alberta communities.”
The Built Together program awards $50,000 grants each year across Alberta to create spaces for active living, with 1 grant each for Edmonton, Calgary, a secondary city, a rural community and an Indigenous community. Past grants have supported a variety of projects including outdoor gyms, playgrounds, walking trails, skating rinks and biking and skateboard parks.
Not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, schools and community groups are eligible and encouraged to apply until September 17, 2024 through the Alberta Blue Cross® community website.
One of the many organizations that has benefited from the program is the Weinlos Parents’ Education Society in Edmonton, which received a Built Together grant in 2022 to build an accessible playground. Weinlos School runs its Opportunity program which supports students in grades 1 through 6 who have mild cognitive disabilities and significant academic delays and is the designated district site for the Behaviour and Learning Assistance program. The new playground includes rubber flooring and inclusive equipment that allows all students to play. Currently, students use a small, deteriorating playground nearby and are excited for the new playground’s opening in the fall of 2024.
Funding for Built Together comes from the Alberta Blue Cross® community foundation, and applications are evaluated by a panel of experts.
“Built Together is a way Alberta Blue Cross® is investing in the preventative health of Albertans. As we know, providing community-based amenities to promote active living means healthier populations,” says Geislinger.
As the largest provider of health benefits in Alberta, Alberta Blue Cross® is committed to serving as a champion for the wellbeing of Albertans.
For more information, please contact Sharmin Hislop, director, Corporate Communications, Alberta Blue Cross®, at 780-498-8283 or shislop@ab.bluecross.ca.
This media release was shared as a news story on:
- Spruce Grove Examiner (print edition) in Alberta Blue Cross offering Built Together Grant
- High River Times (print edition) in Built together with Alberta Blue Cross
