5/21/02

BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD DONATION ENHANCES TIGERFIT PROGRAM

AUBURN -- Through its third donation since 1999, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is helping to bolster TigerFit, a service-learning program at Auburn University that provides comprehensive health profiles for faculty, staff and the surrounding community.

The most recent gift from the Caring Foundation, the philanthropic branch of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, will continue to provide new equipment for the TigerFit Health & Fitness facility, which is housed by the Department of Health and Human Performance in Auburn's College of Education. Blue Cross and Blue Shield's initial contribution in February 1999 helped launch TigerFit.

"We are very encouraged by the success of the TigerFit program. The work of our faculty and students has resulted in the need to develop our facilities and enhance our levels of teaching and community service," said Frances Kochan, professor and interim dean for the College of Education.

"The program was designed for our undergraduate and graduate students to develop skills in applied exercise technology, exercise physiology and adult fitness programming," said Peter Grandjean, director of TigerFit. "We are also working with physicians and residents from the Baptist Health Family Medicine Residency Program. With the assistance of Dr. Jack Mahurin and Dr. Timothy Bode, the TigerFit program provides comprehensive health and fitness assessments for our community."

The health and fitness assessment laboratory is the only clinical fitness assessment program in Alabama designed for teaching, detection and primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield's contribution will enable upgrades to the TigerFit phlebotomy station and development of a hydrostatic weighing facility for estimating body composition. These laboratory enhancements will improve the program's ability to teach current assessment techniques and provide fitness assessments in a state-of-the art, reliable environment, Grandjean said.

"Clearly Blue Cross and Blue Shield's financial assistance has helped us pursue the objectives we established for TigerFit. Our vision is to improve classroom instruction, enhance our university outreach efforts and generate extramural research funding. With support from the Caring Foundation, we have made tremendous strides toward achieving these goals and look forward to making the program even better," he said. For more information on a comprehensive health and fitness assessment or to make a contribution to the TigerFit program, contact Dr. Grandjean at 334/844-1462.

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may02:AU-tigerfit