November 9, 2021

Independent Health to award 65 charities a total of $42,000 during Medicare Open Enrollment

Independent Health announced the second round of $650 recipients of its “Nominate Your Favorite Charity” program. More than 3,000 individuals have submitted nominations for the program since October 1. Randomly selected recipients all operate within the eight-county Western New York region.

The second round of awardees included:

Throughout the Medicare annual enrollment season, which concludes Dec. 7, Independent Health continues to invite anyone to nominate their favorite local charity for a chance to receive a donation. Every two weeks, Independent Health will randomly select 13 local non-profit organizations to receive $650 each. This amounts to more than $42,000 for 65 organizations serving Western New York (#650for65charities).

“Throughout the fall season, as thousands of Western New Yorkers evaluate their Medicare options for 2022, we chose to offer this program to invest in our community and support the local organizations our members, and non-members, value most, said Cathy Aquino, director of government sales, Independent Health. “It’s wonderful to see such enthusiastic participation in this program and we hope to gather thousands more nominations by early December.”

Anyone can nominate a charity of their choice. You do not need to be an Independent Health member or Medicare-eligible to submit a nomination, nor is there an obligation to enroll with Independent Health. Entries are limited to one nomination per person and the non-profit organizations must have 501(c)(3) status and operate within the eight counties of Western New York. The selected charities will be individually notified if they’ve received an award. 

Individuals who are interested in nominating a charity may do so by:

• Visiting a Medicare Information Center
• Submitting a form online
• By phone at (716) 635-4900 or 1-800-958-4405 (TTY users call 711)

Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the nomination period