We're teaming up and giving our all to build healthier communities.

Addressing Social Injustice and Supporting Communities

Building Healthy Communities Together

These commitments directly align with Anthem's work to address long-standing racial and health inequities facing communities across the country. With the Indiana Fever's partnership, we will make a measurable impact on health challenges in our city.

The Latest News

Fever Coach Christmas-Kelly and Center Temi Fagbenle join Anthem volunteers to build a weight room

July 31, 2024

For the third consecutive year, the Fever joined Anthem volunteers and the Impact Fitness Foundation to provide renovated fitness and wellness spaces at under-resourced schools, primarily focused on supporting female student-athletes. In addition to seeing their new space for the first time, student-athletes and coaches were led through a strength training clinic with Coach Christmas-Kelly and Temi.

2024 “Anthem Assists” Honorees Announced

Summer, 2024

Every month during the WNBA season, the Indiana Fever and Anthem honor a community advocate through their “Indiana Fever Anthem Assists Award” program.

This program serves as one of the premier community outreach programs of the Indiana Fever and honors individuals throughout the State of Indiana who have made an overwhelming impact in the lives of others by taking action for equity and inclusion in education, health & wellness, female empowerment and corporate citizenship.

Click on the links below to learn more about these impressive honorees:

May: DeAndrea Raynor is the founder of Indy Community Pantry, a grassroots food aid network that helps those who were struggling with food insecurity.

June: Founder & President of Girl Talk Inc., Sonya Cooke was honored as this month’s winner.  Girl Talk Inc. gives young girls life skills to be successful in school, have positive social interactions & create a positive self-image.

July: We honored Christina Huffines, founder of Indy Hygiene Hub, as July’s Anthem Assists winner. Indy Hygiene Hub provides essential hygiene items to thousands of Indianapolis families by using coupons & store deals to stockpile items.

August: Jennie Stern is August’s Anthem Assists winner! Jennie has taught at Independence Academy, a nonprofit school for autistic students, for 13 years and has traveled to Nicaragua to serve on special education teams.

September: Heather Savage, our latest honoree and Co-Founder of Let Them Talk, plays a pivotal role in uplifting Black youth voices, bridging generational gaps and addressing community disparities.

Providing meals to clients at the Center for Women and Children

Summer 2024

Anthem associates and the Fever volunteer together multiple times a year to help make sure the clients who rely on the Wheeler Center receive a hot, nutritious meal. This summer, Fever players Temi Fagbenle, NaLyssa Smith, Grace Berger and Katie Lou Samuelson were on hand to help Anthem volunteers serve dinner to some of our Indianapolis neighbors. Wheeler Center for Women and Children is a social services organization that provides critically needed goods and services to individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty.

“Beat the Chef” at Brookside School 54

April 11, 2024

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has partnered with iHeartMedia and national nutrition education nonprofit Common Threads to provide Brookside School 54 students, families and staff with cooking and nutrition education designed to encourage lifelong healthy habits.

Indiana Fever standout Lexie Hull joined Market President Beth Keyser, other distinguished judges and Anthem volunteers at a very special school showcase and Beat the Chef event. The celebration was the culmination of a series of interactive culinary programming, highlighted by students preparing a dish and facing off against dishes made by Common Threads chef Jared Batson.

Read Across America

March 1, 2024

As part of our partnership with the Indiana Fever and the Indiana Pacers, we are the presenting partner of their Read Like A Pro initiative, designed to foster a love of reading among kids of all ages. On Friday, March 1 schools across the country celebrated Read Across America Day, and Anthem associates were invited to participate in an exclusive volunteer opportunity at William McKinley School in Indianapolis.

Serving a Nutritious Lunch at the Wheeler Center for Women and Children

January 14, 2024

Anthem associates and the Fever teamed up to provide a healthy meal for the clients who rely on the Wheeler Center for some of their nutrition needs. Wheeler Center for Women and Children is a social services organization that provides critically needed goods and services to individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty.

Volunteers Sort Toys for Distribution Across Indy

November 14, 2023

Anthem associates assisted with the Pacers and Fever’s Season of Giving Toy Sorting and Setup Day, which took place at the Maypak warehouse in Whitestown. Volunteers moved and unloaded palettes, organized rooms for sorting and packing, labeled toys and provided additional set up support to ensure the distribution runs smoothly for children’s organizations across the city.

Toys were also provided for the students at Brookside School 54, and Anthem helped the school host a holiday toy shopping event for the parents of these deserving kids in mid-December.

Supporting the Million Meal Marathon with Erica Wheeler

October 26, 2023

This year marked the 3rd consecutive year that Anthem associates teamed up with Pacers Sports & Entertainment and the Fever to fight hunger at home. Joined by star Fever player Erica Wheeler, all meals packed at the Million Meal Marathon benefit hungry Hoosiers and are delivered to food pantries throughout Indiana.

Supporting the Center for Women and Children

August 14, 2023

Wheeler Center for Women and Children is a social services organization that provides critically needed goods and services to individuals experiencing homelessness, poverty, and need. Members of the Indiana Fever and Anthem associate volunteers were on hand to provide lunch for clients at the center and help with various facility projects that have been on their to-do list.

Anthem and the Fever Join Nonprofit Common Threads for Cooking Class at Brookside School 54

July 18, 2023

In addition to providing food to the Brookside School community, Anthem is going one step further to make sure that students and families have the tools they need to prepare healthy meals.  On July 18, Anthem and Indiana Fever leadership joined the  Common Threads staff and Brookside students to help with their Small Bites nutrition program.

Small Bites is a direct education intervention program for PreK-8th graders to increase nutrition knowledge, vegetable consumption, and variety of vegetables consumed. The SNAP-Ed approved curriculum is taught through a series of eight 1-hour lessons combining nutrition education and cooking skills. Each lesson gives students the opportunity to connect math, language arts, and science concepts to interactive experiences that provide tools to live longer, healthier lives.

“Anthem Assists” Honorees Announced

Summer, 2023

The Indiana Fever and Anthem have teamed up to honor champions of the community through the “Indiana Fever Anthem Assists Award” program.

This program serves as one of the premier community outreach programs of the Indiana Fever and honors individuals throughout the State of Indiana who have made an overwhelming impact in the lives of others by advocating for equity and inclusion in education, health & wellness, female empowerment and corporate citizenship.

The Anthem Assists honoree for July was  Joy's House, an organization that serves adults throughout Central Indiana by providing adult day and caregiver services. With a team of dedicated staff and volunteers, Joy’s House provides caregiving services for over 10,000 Hoosiers each year.

In August, Indianapolis resident  Meredith Howell was honored for the profound impact she has made on Indiana children who are blind or visually impaired and their families. Her successful lobbying efforts include updates to the Indiana Pediatric Birth Defects and Problems Registry to include certain pediatric visual impairments, and the advocacy of a line item specific for early intervention for infants and toddlers with blindness/low vision.

 Click here to nominate a student, co-worker, neighbor, friend, relative, volunteer or community leader that is making a difference through their commitment to inspiring change.

Anthem and the Indiana Fever Distribute Food for Families at Brookside School 54

July 8, 2023

As a continuation of the collaboration between Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Indiana Fever to support access to healthy food and nutrition education in the Indianapolis community, volunteers from Anthem and the Fever helped families at Brookside School 54 choose from a variety of food items, including canned goods, meats, and produce during one of the ongoing food distribution events funded by Anthem. Around 75 families were served, many of which have students attending the school.

Offseason Anthem Assists Awards Honor Hoosiers Who Make a Difference in Our Communities

May 19, 2023

Sponsored by Anthem, the “Indiana Fever Anthem Assists Award” program recognizes individuals throughout Indiana who have made an impact in the lives of others. Aster Bekele, Mark Watson, Maureen Leisure and Bob Broughton were recognized at half-court during the May 19, 2023 Fever game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Aster Bekele is the founder of the  Felege Hiywot Center which serves urban youth of Indianapolis and teaches urban farming and environmental preservation while instilling skills that help them be self-sufficient.

Mark Watson serves as Chapter Director of  Flashes of Hope, a program that creates free uplifting portraits to honor the unique life and memories of every child fighting cancer, partnering with more than 81 pediatric hospitals and dozens of summer camps for children with cancer.

Maureen Leisure and Bob Broughton are the co-founders of  Changing Footprints, a nonprofit organization focused on collecting new and gently used shoes for distribution to homeless, disaster-stricken, or underprivileged individuals locally, nationally and internationally.

If you’d like to nominate a Hoosier who has made a difference in your community,  please click here to learn how.

Three Fever Athletes Complete Athlete to Advocate Program

May 18, 2023

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, its parent company and the Indiana Fever continued their commitment to the Athlete to Advocate program, empowering athletes to become advocates for change. Players NaLyssa Smith, Lexie Hull and Kelsey Mitchell were recently recognized for completing the 5-week program developed by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI. Fever athletes learned how to promote the causes in which they believe by using the platforms available to them as professional athletes.

The "Athlete to Advocate" program prepares athletes to raise social awareness of the causes they support, advance solutions, and enhance their philanthropic activities and advocacy.

Anthem and iHeartImpact Partner with Nutrition Education Nonprofit Common Threads

May 8, 2023

As a continuation of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s commitment to addressing access to healthy food and nutrition education for the Indianapolis community, Anthem, iHeartMedia and the Fever joined national nonprofit Common Threads for a special nutrition showcase at Brookside School 54.

Common Threads’ interactive and culturally responsive approach to cooking and nutrition education was celebrated with student-led cooking demonstrations and a healthy food distribution, with the Fever’s Inferno Squad leading the kids through a series of skills drills

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Common Threads programs provide students, families and staff with cooking and nutrition education designed to encourage lifelong healthy habits. The Student Showcase event was the kickoff to the Small Bites series of interactive nutrition and culinary programming, highlighted by a student-led cooking demonstration.

Anthem Teams Up with Indiana Fever for Season of Giving

November-December, 2022

Volunteers from Anthem and the Fever sorted and loaded trucks with toys donated by JAKKS Pacific Toys as part of the Season of Giving program. Later, Anthem and the Indiana Fever supported local families at Brookside School 54 with a toy donation. Volunteers helped families choose from 250 toys to help Brookside students celebrate the holiday season.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Indiana Fever Join Forces at the Million Meals Marathon

October 25, 20222

Through our innovative partnership with the Indiana Fever, Anthem remains committed to fighting food insecurity in Indiana. Anthem associates joined the Indiana Fever to pack meals for the Million Meal Movement. At least 60,000 Hoosier families will have a warm nutritious meal on their tables thanks to all of the volunteers who participated in the event.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Fever Recognize Champions of the Community with Anthem Assists Award

July 29, 2022

Sponsored by Anthem, the “Indiana Fever Anthem Assists Award” program recognizes individuals throughout Indiana who have made an impact in the lives of others by advocating for equity and inclusion in education, health & wellness, female empowerment, and corporate citizenship. Honorees are invited to attend a Fever game and receive recognition in-game at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Jennifer Harmon, the founder of HamCo Love, received the most recent Anthem Assists award. HamCo Love’s mission is to provide female hygiene products for girls and women who have limited or no access to supplies. The organization also offers guidance and resources on how Hoosier residents can create local supply stations and advocate for female health equity in their own communities.

Previous Anthem Assists award winners include: Kareem Hines (New Breed of Youth), Mary Stumpp (The Can Lady Project) and Michael Prage (Indiana Foster Care).

If you’d like to nominate a Hoosier who has made a difference in your community,  please click here to learn how.

Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream and Anthem volunteers team up to give back to the community

May 16, 2022

As part of their shared commitment to making a difference in our communities, players, coaches and staff from the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream worked alongside Anthem associate volunteers to help sort, pack and distribute food at Gleaner's Food bank of Indiana. The volunteer event was part of a truly unique partnership element within Anthem's WNBA team portfolio, where both the home and visiting teams host a joint community activity that makes an impact on health challenges in their respective cities.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Unveils New Food Pantry and Produce Garden in Indianapolis

April 12, 2022

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Heart of America and iHeartMedia announced the funding of a new food pantry and produce garden at Brookside School 54 in Indianapolis, providing a permanent resource for students and families to access and grow healthy food.

According to the Indy Hunger Network’s latest study, nine out of ten households with food assistance needs don’t have reliable access to nutritious food. This transformation project features multiple indoor and outdoor re-imagined spaces designed as tools that will increase access to fresh produce, nutrition education, and overall health and wellness, for the students and the community.

Recurring food distributions made possible by funding from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield are also part of the ongoing collaboration.

Anthem Teams up with iHeart Media and Heart of America

July 12, 2021

Anthem has teamed up with iHeart Media and  Heart of America to help schools across the country expand their access to nutritious foods as a way to improve health. By creating customized solutions like learning gardens, food pantries and teaching kitchens, we aim to provide practical, sustainable resources that will help schools in their nutrition efforts.

Heart of America (HOA), founded in 1997, transforms educational spaces into modern learning environments so that students, families, and communities can learn and grow. The organization has led in addressing education inequity across the United States for nearly 25 years by delivering high-quality resources and engaging spaces to underserved students and campuses to reduce the digital divide and close the resource gap. HOA has rebuilt and revitalized more than 700 educational spaces including libraries, technology labs, science labs, health clinics, auditoriums, recreation/community centers, and more.

iHeartMedia, the number one audio company in the United States, joins the collaboration as a national awareness-building partner in Anthem’s commitment to addressing food insecurity in under-resourced communities.

Anthem and Indiana Fever pack more than 11,000 meals

July 12, 2021

Through innovative collaborations with the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, Anthem continues to grow its impact on improving community health. On July 8, Anthem associates joined forces with the Indiana Fever of the WNBA to pack more than 11,000 meals (in less than two hours!) at Million Meal Movement. Each meal, which feeds a family of four, will be delivered to Indianapolis Public School food pantries.

Athlete to Advocate: Sports, Leadership & Social Justice

June 10, 2021

Women of the Fever team participated in the Athlete to Advocate certificate program where they learned how to amplify their already strong voices and platforms to make an even bigger impact. The program with the Indiana Fever and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has a curriculum designed to give athletes formal tools to advocate for causes in which they believe. Fever General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Tamika Catchings along with players Tiffany Mitchell, Victoria Vivians, Lauren Cox and Jantel Lavender recently completed the 5-week course.

The Indiana Fever and Anthem are joining forces to address social injustice, promote health and well-being in under-resourced communities, and empower athletes to become advocates for change.

May 13, 2021

The cornerstone of Anthem's collaboration with the Indiana Fever is an innovative "Athlete to Advocate" professional executive certificate program, developed and led by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI, that is designed to equip professional athletes to become effective advocates for change. Focused on "Sports, Leadership & Social Justice," this partnership with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy will provide athletes with new, research-based knowledge and skills related to their leadership roles on and off the basketball court. The "Athlete to Advocate" program will prepare athletes to raise social awareness of the causes they support, advance solutions, and enhance their philanthropic activities and advocacy through their platform as professional athletes.

 Read full article.

The Indiana Fever and Anthem have teamed up to honor champions of the community through the "Indiana Fever Anthem Assists Award" program.

May 13, 2021

This program serves as one of the premier community outreach programs of the Indiana Fever and honors individuals throughout the State of Indiana who have made an overwhelming impact in the lives of others by advocating for equity and inclusion in education, health & wellness, female empowerment, and corporate citizenship.

Anyone can nominate a student, co-worker, neighbor, friend, relative, volunteer or community leader that is making a difference through their commitment to inspiring change.

Nominations must include the nominee's name, street address, city, state, zip code, phone number and email address, along with a short description of why this nominee is deserving of the award.

The description should include examples of the nominee's advocacy actions, as well as any lasting contributions to their community.

  Read full article.