Health & Healthcare

Chances are, you are familiar with the mission behind Make-A-Wish® Mid-Atlantic’s work. Serving children who reside in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Central and Southern Delaware since 1983, Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic has granted the wishes of more than 8,800 children fighting illnesses such as cancer, pediatric AIDS, cystic fibrosis, Duchene's muscular dystrophy and heart disease. However you might be surprised to learn that all of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic’s wishes are granted by trained volunteers who assume the role of a Wish Granter. And right now they especially need help from bilingual, Spanish-speaking volunteers.

Ebola, Zika, SARS and the return of avian flu to the headlines recently are reminders that the threat of a new epidemic is never far away. With increased air travel and populations on the move, it doesn’t take long for a virus to spread between countries and jump across continents, with potentially catastrophic results.

In this episode of the Champions for Social Good Podcast, Jamie Serino speaks with Dr. Chris Stout (@drchrisstout), Founding Director of Center for Global Initiatives. Chris shares how his purpose for helping others has evolved throughout his journey through graduate school, international travels and projects with the World Economic Forum, and how that led him to create his own global humanitarian organization. The process of launching a 501(c)3 is also discussed, and Chris offers some advice from his own experience including where to find helpful tools and resources. During the conversation, Chris emphasizes the importance of maintaining a network of strong connections, building cross-sector partnerships, being flexible and having a contextual understanding of the service regions.

February is National Hot Breakfast Month. And while chilly February is the perfect time to start your morning with something warm, there are benefits to eating a cooked breakfast year-round.

Once considered the purview of Jetsons-era futurescapes, smart street systems have made the transition from science fiction to real city council planning agendas. Sensor-laden Wi-Fi kiosks, smart streetlights, EV charging stations and integrated urban mobility systems are generating rising interest as cities demand greater connectivity, resource efficiency, enhanced public safety and more effective municipal service delivery.

Aflac, the leading provider of voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the U.S., announced it exceeded its 2016 goal for social interactions regarding the company’s #Duckprints campaign for childhood cancer.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation has announced the first three grant awards from its New Horizons grant fund.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield today announced that its foundation and 2,000 associates in Colorado contributed $1.8 million and 2,100 volunteer hours to health-related causes and community events in 2016.

In honor of World Cancer Day, Feb. 4, Holland America Line is proud to announce that to date, the guests and employees of the company have raised more than $5 million for cancer support through "On Deck" programming that began in 2006. Currently the "On Deck" for a Cause program benefits six international cancer organizations located in the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom.