Photo courtesy Blue Cross Blue Shield Vermont Nina Hurley from Blue Cross Blue Shield, left, Governor Jim Douglas, Beth Esmond and Megan Peek also from Blue Cross Blue Shield load sox for needy Vermont kids. The program has won a national award. Cabot Hosiery Mills of Northfield took part in a unique project launched last winter to provide warm socks to needy Vermont youngsters.

The program has received national recognition for innovative community leadership from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Foundation.

The Blue Socks for Kids project received the award from the AHIP Foundation as part of its 2009 Community Leadership Awards.

Blue Socks for Kids was recognized for its creative project made possible through a collaboration of community minded Vermont organizations: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, Northfield sock manufacturer Cabot Hosiery Mills, Inc., and the state's community action agencies and homeless shelters.

Based on research from the United States and Canada indicating that warm underclothing is high on the list of needs among the low income and homeless living in cold climates, The Vermont Caring Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont's non-profit charitable arm, provided $25,000 to purchase 10,000 pairs of high quality merino wool socks manufactured specifically for Blue Socks for Kids by Cabot Hosiery Mills, Vermont's only sock maker.

The socks were distributed in December, 2008 to Vermont's neediest children through the state's community action agencies and seven homeless shelters.

"This initiative of The Vermont Caring Foundation was highly successful and well received," explained Kevin Goddard, Vice President of External Affairs at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont. "It warmed hearts as well as toes here in Vermont."

The Vermont Caring Foundation exists to advance and improve the health of all Vermonters, particularly children and teenagers. The Foundation seeks to fulfill its mission by raising and distributing funds to support local programs whose primary purpose is health education, prevention, research, promotion and/or improvement. The Foundation granted nearly $15,000 to four projects in the first half of 2008 before deciding to use its remaining 2008 grant budget to invest approximately $25,000 toward the Blue Socks for Kids project.

Cabot Hosiery Mills, Inc. is a Northfield based sock manufacturer and the only sock maker in Vermont and the Northeast. Cabot makes socks for a broad range of privatelabel customers including Bass Shoes, L.L. Bean and Orvis.

The newest addition to the Cabot line is the "Darn Tough Vermont" label, a premium, all-weather performance sock knitted of 100 percent merino wool, Lycra, nylon and elastic to meet the needs of the outdoors person.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is the state's oldest and largest private health insurer, providing coverage for about 170,000 Vermonters. It employs over 350 Vermonters at its headquarters in Berlin and branch office in Williston, and offers group and individual health plans to Vermonters.

More information about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is available on the internet at www.bcbsvt.com. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is an independent corporation operating under a license with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.