Blue Shield employees recently lent a hand to make the Olympics a huge success.
Not those Olympic Games, which are still a year away in Tokyo. These games were instead part of Oakland Town Camp’s Olympics, which empower Oakland students aged 5 to 12 to learn new skills and stay active — and were a lot more fun!
Over 500 campers from Town Camp’s 18 locations across Oakland came together to compete at Arroyo Viejo Park on July 12. Participants each represented their home recreation center to face off in feats ranging from traditional camp contests like three-legged races, to more wacky activities like water hose limbo. Blue Shield volunteers pitched in across all parts of the event, setting up and decorating, serving lunch, painting faces and scooping ice cream, all the way to helping run the actual games.
“We are so excited to have Blue Shield join us for Town Camp this summer,” said Maribel Lopez, Recreation Supervisor for Oakland Parks, Recreation and Youth Development, who organized the competition. “Your volunteers make our event even more fantastic for the kids who participate.”
The Olympics are part of the larger Town Camp program, which launched in partnership with the Stephen & Ayesha Curry Family Foundation. Running from June to early August, Town Camp helps Oakland’s youth learn leadership and life skills and develop self-confidence in a fun, safe and inclusive environment. The Camp Olympics were part of Sports & Safety Week, which also taught campers new ways to stay healthy, with fitness and healthy cooking classes.
Blue Shield’s involvement with Town Camp is part of our #80forOakland campaign, as we join the Oakland community and open the doors to our new headquarters later this year. Events like Town Camp Olympics help us get to better know our hometown and allow Oakland to meet and get to know us. Check out #80forOakland to see how you can get involved in other activities that support this campaign.
Many of our #80forOakland activities also support our goal to achieve 80% employee participation in Corporate Citizenship. If you haven’t already volunteered, donated or tapped into one of our other qualifying programs, please visit Shield Cares to find out how to join a service project. We have opportunities for employees all across California.
Thank you for all you do to help Blue Shield help others. It’s one of the things that makes me so Proud to be Blue.
Kimberley Goode is senior vice president for external affairs at Blue Shield of California