PORTLAND — P.A.W.S Animal Adoption Center in Camden was awarded $500 from the Foundation’s Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant program from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.

Will Knight, an employee of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, nominated the organization for the award. Funds will be used to provide shelter, food, and medical services to local animals in need.

To commemorate those Harvard Pilgrim members who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, Harvard Pilgrim and the Foundation created the Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant program. This program allows each Harvard Pilgrim employee to award a $500 grant, completely funded by the Foundation, to the local charity of his or her choice each calendar year. Since this community grants program began in 2002, Harvard Pilgrim employees have directed more than $6.5 million to thousands of organizations throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

“We are so fortunate to have generous and dedicated employees who enrich our company and the communities in which we all live and work,” said Karen Voci, president of the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation, in a news release. “The Mini-Grant program is a wonderful way to support our employees as philanthropists and to help them make an impact in their own cities and towns.”

In 2018, 96% of Harvard Pilgrim employees participated in at least one form of service or giving through volunteering, the Mini-Grants program, or Harvard Pilgrim’s annual Employee Fundraising Campaign.

About The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation
Created in 1980, The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation supports Harvard Pilgrim’s corporate mission to improve the quality and value of health care for the people and communities we serve. The Harvard Pilgrim Foundation provides the tools, training and leadership to help build healthy communities throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

In 2018, the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation awarded nearly $1.25 million in grants to 855 nonprofit organizations in the region. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded $150 million in funds throughout the four states.

For more information, visit ww.harvardpilgrim.org/foundation.