Blue Cross grant making difference at PRCC

  POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College welcomed Sheila Grogan, director of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, to campus Friday to update her on plans for the $147,493 foundation grant to the PRCC Wildcat Wellness initiative.
  Grogan presented a ceremonial check to Dr. Tara Rouse, director of the PRCC Wellness Center, and Dr. Jennifer Seal, vice president for planning and institutional research.
  “Pearl River Community College is doing an amazing job with promoting wellness at the college and in the K-12 schools,” Grogan said.
  Through the grant, PRCC has started a 5K Beginner Bootcamp, held the first weekly fun run/walk, served Sweet Heart smoothies at the Wellness Center on Valentine’s Day and started providing fresh fruit every Friday to Poplarville Lower Elementary students.
  “It’s the first thing the students ask on Friday – what fruit are we having today,” said Candace Henderson, PLE principal. “We’ve gotten nice notes from parents, too.”
  Future activities include a healthy cooking demonstration at PLE’s Parent University, a Tour de River bike class, taking PLE students to a one-mile run in Gulfport in April and continuing summer camps for kids. Workstation exercise equipment, including treadmills and stationary bikes, is already in place in campus offices.
  Blue Cross awarded $286,270 to PRCC in 2012 to replace outdated exercise equipment and construct an outdoor walking track. The foundation awarded a second grant of $198,171 in 2015 to start the summer camps for elementary school children, to assist with the “Get Ready to Run” program in Poplarville elementary schools and to purchase outdoor exercise equipment along with bicycles for PRCC students to lease.
  “This is the third period that we’ve funded at Pearl River Community College,” Grogan said. “The college has done a superb job. This is going to be sustainable and live on long after the money is gone.”
 

Sheila Grogan, center, executive director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, presents a ceremonial check on Friday, Feb. 17, to Pearl River Community College for the Wildcat Wellness Initiative. Accepting it are Dr. Jennifer Seal, vice president for planning and institutional research, left, and Dr. Tara Rouse, Wellness Center director.
PRCC Public Relations photo


The Pearl River Community College Wildcat Wellness Committee enjoys healthy smoothies during a meeting on Friday, Feb. 17.
PRCC Public Relations photo

Each community college president is asked to bring two (2) wrapped door prizes, minimum value of $50 each. We will have a station set up at the conference for you to drop off the door prizes.

Each community college is asked to provide name tags for their Board members, administration, and staff attending the conference.