PORTLAND — Five local Boys & Girls Clubs joined recently with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine on Jan. 22 to announce $23,000 in grant funding for Triple Play programming to improve the health and wellness of kids across the State.

The grant is part of a five-year commitment from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation to provide $315,200 to Boys & Girls Clubs in Maine through 2018.

Grant money helps provide programming during out-of-school time that supports a healthy, active lifestyle.

Boys & Girls Clubs around the state received a variety of grants to support Triple Play programming, focusing on being healthy holistically through the mind, body and soul. The Triple Play program has engaged more than 3,000 Maine youth in regular physical activity last year.

As Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s proven health and wellness program, Triple Play is a game plan for the mind, body and soul. Supported by founding sponsor The Coca-Cola Company and co-sponsor Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, the program’s three components encourage Club members to eat healthier (mind), become more physically active (body) and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships (soul). Since the program’s inception in 2005, Triple Play has made 9.2 million connections with children and teens.

Specifically the grants announced recently include:

* Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Waterville and Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine received funding via the Mind, Body & Soul Grant to enhance Triple Play programming at five Clubhouses.

* Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine also received a $5,000 Focus Grant to provide programming, teaching the importance of healthy eating habits and being physically active. The Clubs will also focus on increasing Club members’ fruit and veggies consumption or physical activity as part of the grant.

* Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation also awarded Boys & Girls Club of Greater Gardiner a $3,000 Innovation Grant to encourage the Club to provide innovative solutions to increased physical activity, nutrition awareness or fruit and vegetable consumption in their Club.

“We are so pleased to work with the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Triple Play program to help kids in Maine stay active and maintain healthy eating habits,” said Dan Corcoran, president and general manager of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine. “This program helps build a solid foundation of learning for kids and is at the heart of Anthem’s mission to improve the overall health of people and communities across the state.”

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation is committed to improving health and strengthening Maine communities. Through its Healthy Generations grant program, the foundation works to identify the issues most in need of attention and then directs its financial support and volunteer efforts toward improving health in those areas. Promoting youth health and active lifestyles is an ongoing focus of the foundation.

The Triple Play grants are part of a five-year, $10 million commitment from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation’s parent company foundation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America and local Clubs nationwide, to promote healthy lifestyles. This is the fourth consecutive year Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has awarded Triple Play grants in Maine.