HBA deposits $100,000 into Very Special Kids' Piggy Bank

Leading private health insurer HBA today announced it would donate $100,000 to Very Special Kids, as part of the organisation's annual Piggy Bank Appeal.

Very Special Kids is a unique organisation that supports more than 840 families across Victoria throughout their experience of caring for children with life-threatening illnesses. They also provide respite and end-of-life care at Very Special Kids House, Victoria's only children's hospice.

HBA's donation will allow Very Special Kids to implement a client information management system that will improve the delivery of services to families who are caring for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Bupa Australia Managing Director*, Richard Bowden, said the donation had been granted as part of the company's community engagement program.

"HBA has been a major partner of Very Special Kids and their annual Piggy Bank Appeal for the last five years, and each year we support them through a range of customer-facing and employee fundraising initiatives," Bowden said.

"We're extremely proud to be able to extend this support by providing them with an additional $100,000 in 2009," he said.

Bowden said that as a successful business supporting Australians' health and wellbeing for more than 70 years, HBA had a responsibility to give back to the communities in which it operated.

"We see it as a critical part of our business to sponsor groups and activities that encourage and cultivate health and wellness," he said. "And one way in which we do this is via our Bupa Giving program, which granted this particular donation.

"Very Special Kids holds a special place in the hearts of all HBA employees as we know what a difference this organisation can make to the lives of families caring for children with life-threatening illnesses – from diagnosis through to recovery or bereavement."

Very Special Kids CEO David Agnew said the $100,000 grant would dramatically improve Very Special Kids' ability to deliver a better standard of care to the families it supports. "Better client information means better outcomes for families and HBA's generous contribution to the 2009 Piggy Bank Appeal will have a direct benefit to the community through improved services to these families," Agnew said.

"Long term supporters like HBA, who continue to financially support us through the current economic downturn are 'like gold'. We rely on corporate and community support for 80 per cent of our annual $4.3 million operating budget and without organisations like HBA, as well as their staff and customers, we would not be able to continue doing what we do," he said.

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*In Australia, Bupa operates under the trusted and respected brans MBF, HBA, Mutual Community and ClearView.

For media enquiries:

Inga Norgrove	Emma Watts
PR & Communications Manager, Very Special Kids	Media & Corporate Communications Adviser, Bupa Australia
Phone: (03) 9804 6234	Phone: (03) 9937 4082
Email: inorgrove@vsk.org.au	Email: emma.watts@bupa.com.au