Health Plus - Two Guardians of Community Honored for Charity

For Immediate Release

Two Guardians of Community Honored for Charity
Health Plus and United Jewish Council of the East Side Receive Proclamation from State Speaker Sheldon Silver

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New York, New York - December 3, 2008 — During a Turkey Distribution event last week in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, State Speaker Sheldon Silver bestowed a unique honor on two of the city’s hardest working organizations -- Health Plus and the United Jewish Council of the East Side --for their continuous efforts to feed the hungry in a metropolis so large that the cries of the famished often go unheard.

For many years, many families have come to rely on the Health Plus Turkey Distributions in order to celebrate Thanksgiving in a festive manner. In the past 3 years, working with the United Jewish Council of the East side, as well as many other organizations such as the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Health Plus has added nearly a thousand Kosher Turkeys to the many thousands of turkeys they have distributed in Nassau County and citywide.

The Proclamation was presented to Kathryn Soman, Director of Communications and External Affairs for Health Plus, and Joel Kaplan, Executive Director of the United Jewish Council of the East Side, by Speaker Silver himself. This was the second time in a week that Kathryn Soman received such an honor, having been presented with a letter on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg by William Rapfogel, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, only days earlier, for all of the work that Health Plus has done on behalf of the needy in New York.

“There is no greater honor than to see my staff honored,” said Tom Early, Executive Director of Health Plus. “I am very proud of Kathryn and her team, as I am equally proud of everyone at Health Plus.”

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver presents a Proclamation to Kathryn Soman, Director of Communications and External Affairs for Health Plus, and Joel Kaplan, Executive Director of the United Jewish Council of the East Side.

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Health Plus, a not-for-profit, multi-cultural organization, is one of the fastest growing managed care organizations in New York City. It was established in 1984 with a commitment to provide coordinated quality health care and improving access to health care for uninsured and underserved families. In its annual review of managed care plans, the New York State Department of Health ranked Health Plus as the top plan for quality in its 2002 and 2003 "Consumer's Guide to Medicaid Managed Care in New York City." Health Plus is New York City's leading provider of Child Health Plus, a New York State Department of Health program that offers parents FREE or low-cost health insurance for children under the age of 19. "CRAIN'S New York Business" magazine ranked Health Plus fifth among the largest health maintenance organizations in the New York area.