Participation in the 2007 CAREDAYS National Initiative, “It’s Your Life” is open to employers and individuals. The two-part program is simple. You may:

• Choose to live – follow the activities on the It’s Your Life calendar and improve the quality and length of your life, and
  
• Choose to give – collect money and donate it to community health clinics serving uninsured patients
  

Center for Companies That Care makes it easy to participate by providing:

• A downloadable calendar with four weeks of activities to improve the quality and length of your life
  
• A “how to” kit and all the other resources you need to celebrate CAREDAYS in your organization
  
• An e-store from which you can order the medical supplies that community health clinics need to serve the uninsured (will be posted after March 15)
  

More information about “It’s Your Life”
We know as a society we are living longer…but are we living better? What can we do to help improve the quality of our lives? By focusing on four factors that researchers have found contribute to longer, healthier lives, we hope to educate employees, and provide tips on little things you can do everyday to enhance your life. And, along the way, raise money for a worthwhile cause and, HAVE FUN.

Specifically, we have designed a calendar of activities focusing on:

• Active Involvement
  
• Nutrition and Fitness
  
• Lifelong Learning
  
• Fun and Laughter
  

Each business day on the It’s Your Life calendar contains tips, inspirational quotes, facts and, most important, suggested activities for employees. Some activities are little, some are bigger, but they all get us thinking about things that we can do to impact our own lives and the lives of others.

The CAREDAYS Coordinator’s Kit, referenced above, contains “It’s Your Life” calendars, a guide to how to celebrate CAREDAYS07, a banner announcing CAREDAYS to your employees, a customizable poster and customizable calendars, and sample communications.

A few minutes invested each day can enhance the quality and extend the days of our lives. And, linking participation to fund-raising in a way that makes sense for your company will help enhance others’ lives as well through the community initiative we are supporting this year: Community-Based Health Clinics.

What are community health clinics?
Community health clinics are local, non-profit, community-owned health care providers serving low income and medically underserved communities.

Health clinics serve as the medical home and family physician to over 15 million people nationally---a number that is quickly growing as the number of uninsured and impoverished grows. Health clinic patients are among the nation’s most vulnerable populations—people who are often isolated from traditional forms of medical care because of where they live, who they are, the language they speak, and their higher levels of complex health care needs. As a result, patients are disproportionately low income, uninsured or publicly insured, and minority.

Community health clinics are: located in high-need areas; open to all residents; offer services that help patients access health care (e.g. transportation, translation); and tailor their services to fit the needs and priorities of their communities.

For many patients, the health center may be the only source of health care services available.

The National Association of Community Health Centers is a great source of information on this topic and the growing need for supporting community health clinics.

How are we supporting community health clinics through “It’s Your Life” activities?
Raising funds, at the company and individual level is part of the CAREDAYS activities. This year we have chosen to support three not-for-profit health clinics with those funds. These clinics operate with volunteer physicians, nurses, and other staff members and operate on a shoe-string budget.

The Companies That Care Giving Store offers community health clinic packages ranging from $250 to $5000, as well as individual items that they have requested. Using the funds you raised, you can purchase the packages or items through the Giving Store and they will be delivered to the community health clinic that requested them. So, as you celebrate CAREDAYS, remember it is not just your life you are enhancing!

We are very grateful to Baxter Healthcare Corporation for sponsoring CAREDAYS07 It’s Your Life.