SJHM Announces Partnership with Eastern Life & Health Insurance
LANCASTER, Pa. (Feb. 26, 2009) – The nonprofit St. Joseph Health Ministries and the Eastern Life & Health Insurance Co. have announced a partnership in support of the children’s oral health initiative, “Brush. Brush. Smile!®”
Lancaster-based Eastern Life & Health’s $15,000 contribution represents the first full-year corporate sponsorship in the history of St. Joseph Health Ministries, which was formed in 2000.
Brush. Brush. Smile!®, a program of St. Joseph Health Ministries, has provided nearly $2.5 million worth of free dental care and oral health education to more than 16,000 children in Lancaster County’s 16 school districts. The hallmarks of Brush. Brush. Smile!® are its two mobile dental clinics, each known as the “Brush Brush Bus,” whose full-time dental staffs travel to see students at their schools.
“As a provider of dental insurance, Eastern Life & Health knows first-hand how important oral health is to one’s overall health and well-being,” said Bruce Eckert, chief executive officer of Eastern Life & Health’s parent company, Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc. “We are honored to partner with St. Joseph Health Ministries and proud that our sponsorship will help Brush. Brush. Smile!® to promote and establish healthy dental habits that will last a lifetime.”
Eastern Life & Health’s sponsorship will support the general operations of Brush. Brush. Smile!® and special events.“We’re grateful to Eastern Life & Health for its pioneering support of Brush. Brush. Smile!®,” said Jennifer Thompson, president and CEO of St. Joseph Health Ministries. “This generous contribution, made even more so by this challenging economy, will help us to improve access to dental care for all economically disadvantaged children in Lancaster County.”
Oral health can affect how a child feels and behaves, performs in school, and develops into an adult. More than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental-related illness, according to the report “Oral Health in America.”
Eastern Life & Health Insurance Co. (www.elhins.com) offers group employee benefit products – dental, short- and long-term disability, term life, and vision insurance – to employers of all sizes. Organized in 1910 as Educators Mutual Life Insurance Co., Eastern Life & Health is part of the Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EIHI) family of companies.
St. Joseph Health Ministries (www.sjhm.org) improves the health of children in need within Lancaster County.