UnitedHealthcare, Chico Chamber Of Commerce And Local Businesses Donate Thousands Of Pounds Of Food To Support Victims Of Domestic Violence

UnitedHealthcare Group Press Release:

UnitedHealthcare, Chico Chamber Of Commerce And Local Businesses Donate Thousands Of Pounds Of Food To Support Victims Of Domestic Violence

• Month-long food drive supports Catalyst Domestic Violence Services' emergency shelter pantry
• Community leaders, volunteers and employees load food items into a truck for delivery to Catalyst

CHICO, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2013) — 

UnitedHealthcare, the Chico Chamber of Commerce and other local businesses have collected nearly 4,000 pounds of food  as part of a month-long campaign to support Catalyst Domestic Violence Services' emergency shelter pantry and raise awareness for October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The food drive culminated today at UnitedHealthcare's Chico Operations Center where employees, volunteers and community leaders loaded the donated food into a truck that was delivered to Catalyst's emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence.

This is the fourth year UnitedHealthcare employees have conducted a food drive in support of the Catalyst shelter pantry. This year, UnitedHealthcare collaborated with the Chico Chamber of Commerce, encouraging local businesses to host their own food drives to benefit Catalyst. Their support helped break last year's record of more than 2,000 pounds of food products.

"We appreciate UnitedHealthcare employees' leadership and support, and thank them for their amazing generosity and support within the Chico community," said Anastacia L. Snyder, executive director at Catalyst. "Working with the Chamber of Commerce and the entire business community has been a very rewarding experience. It's wonderful to have their support."

"Bringing local businesses together to make our community a better place is one of the Chamber's ongoing priorities," said Katie Simmons, president and CEO, the Chico Chamber of Commerce. "It's wonderful to see
the business community play such a vital role in supporting this important cause."

Several community leaders joined UnitedHealthcare employees and Catalyst to participate in today's event, including Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly and Chico city council members Tami Ritter, Ann Schwab and Randall Stone, who helped form a line of volunteers to load the donated food into a truck for delivery to Catalyst.

"We applaud the generosity of the business community in Chico and all of the UnitedHealthcare employees who have worked so hard collecting food items to support those who seek help from Catalyst," Connelly said.  "Their efforts will help victims throughout Butte County who rely on the services provided by Catalyst at such a critical time in their lives."

Catalyst offers a safe house for domestic violence victims as well as counseling and legal assistance with restraining orders. Established more than 35 years ago, the nonprofit's two drop centers provide services throughout Butte County in addition to its 28-bed confidential shelter and transitional housing program. Catalyst's mission is to reduce the incidence of intimate partner violence through crisis intervention services, community education and the promotion of healthy relationships.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 2.4 million Californians with a care provider network of 316 hospitals and more than 58,500 physicians and other health care professionals statewide. UnitedHealthcare established its Chico call center in 1998, and is now one of the largest employers in the community with its employees servicing more than 2 millions calls annually for health plan customers across the United States.

"UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to work with Catalyst and community leaders to help raise awareness about domestic violence through this annual food drive," said Pam Jamian, UnitedHealthcare Chico site director. "We are expanding the food drive beyond the UnitedHealthcare Operations Center – it's important that we all work together to help draw attention to this critical issue."

About Catalyst
Catalyst is a nonprofit organization committed to serving the needs of all domestic violence victims and their children regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, language, religion, physical disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. Catalyst operates a 24-hour hotline for those in need at 800-895-8476. 

About the Chico Chamber of Commerce
The Chico Chamber of Commerce is a business advocacy organization serving over 600 area businesses. Our mission is to be the unified voice of businesses. For more information about programs and services visit www.chicochamber.com.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with 780,000 physicians and other health care professionals and 5,900 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 40 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.