The OrganWise Guys

How to be smart from the inside out! ^®

HCSC’s OrganWise Guys Community Collaborative Initiative (OWGCCI) takes a community-wide approach to improving the health status of children. It is an innovative, science-based nutrition and physical activity program that meets children where they spend the majority of their day, in school.

The OrganWise Guys (OWG) program is a dynamic, interactive, school-based program that uses creative characters based on organs of the body to encourage children to take charge of their health. The materials provide a progressive stream of lessons as students matriculate through elementary school, and they directly correlate with each state’s curriculum standards.

Additionally, there’s a cafeteria component that brings the classroom lessons to life as students make the connection between healthy food choices and their own OrganWise Guys.

As described in our testimony on Capitol Hill, OWGCCI also provides a powerful opportunity to build strong collaborative partnerships with other community organizations focusing on the collective goal of raising healthier children. More than 27,000 children have participated in the program and HCSC has committed to the expansion of an additional 400 schools (approximately 200,000 children) by the year 2014.

OWGCCI represents 100 percent of HCSC’s corporate commitment to community-based outreach and approximately 40 percent of combined HCSC and BCBS Plan investment.

For even more information, read Colorful Characters Help Kids Be 'OrganWise', or visit the OrganWise Guys Web site. You can also contact Lydia Ashanin, HCSC Director of Corporate Community Involvement:

Health Care Service Corporation
dba Blue Cross and Blue Shield of IL, NM, OK and TX
5700 Balloon Fiesta Parkway
Albuquerque, NM 87113

Phone: 505-816-4292
E-mail: Lydia_Ashanin@hcsc.net