Opening

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Hello. I'm Ron Williams, chairman and CEO of Aetna, a leading, diversified health care benefits company that is dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of millions of Americans.

Beyond overseeing Aetna's businesses, I also serve as Chairman of the Aetna Foundation. I'm honored to preserve a tradition of corporate public responsibility that stretches back more than 150 years.

This Aetna tradition has been marked by financial donations and community involvement, as well as the creation of our own philanthropic organization, the Aetna Foundation, 35 years ago.

It has also been marked by an extraordinary volunteer spirit. Throughout our history, Aetna's employees have devoted countless hours to improve our communities, transforming lives and restoring hope during people's most difficult times.

In this video we honor these traditions and the people who make them possible.

In the next few minutes, you'll experience stories of hope, dedication and courage. They're told by people who are living these stories - volunteers, community-based partners and beneficiaries of services.

Aetna is proud to have played a supporting role in these stories. We look forward to many more years of making a difference in people's lives through our giving and our hands-on support.

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The Journey Back

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Tracy Poplasky, Client: Chrysalis Center, Inc.
I got married. He cheated on me. He was abusive, and we ended up getting a divorce. He seemed like the man of my dreams. I was very happy. I pretty much lost it. I became severely depressed and I turned to drugs. Heroin. I couldn't stop. It's all I thought about all day long. Always thinking about when I could get my next fix. I would go into rehab just to avoid jail time. I began stealing in stores to support my habit. I wasn't very good at it. I got arrested. I was barred from every mall there was. My life was such a mess. I never thought my daughter would ever speak to me again. She used to write me hate letters when I was in prison. Four years old and she was in a drug raid. I'm lucky she's even in my life today. The cops came busting in and she still remembers that to this day. But I wasn't going to stop using drugs. I came home. I started using more and more. I got worse. Nothing was enough to make me stop. The drugs were just too powerful. The drugs were just too powerful. I saw my daughter in the streets and she begged me to stop. I needed to stop. She told me to go home. I didn't have a home. I cried. She cried. She hugged me and that was it. The next day I left for rehab.

Tracy Poplasky: A friend of mine heard about the Chrysalis program. She said they would help you with housing, they would help you with job placement, and so that's what I did.

Nellie Jordan, Community Case Manager, Chrysalis Center, Inc.: Aetna is a community partner with the Chrysalis Center. I have known Tracy for three years. I am her community case manager. She's one of my star clients. It's just amazing to see her growth.

Tracy Poplasky: Oh, I love Nellie. I talk to her like I would talk to, you know, one of my friends. I tell her a lot of stuff. Maybe some things she doesn't want to hear but I tell her anyway.

Nellie Jordan: She's doing fabulous. She's staying clean and she's connected to the people she needs to be connected with.

Tracy Poplasky: I'm studying to be a drug and alcohol counselor. I want to help somebody else. If I can do it, I can teach other people how to do this.

Nellie Jordan: She's actually a role model for myself, and actually encouraged me to continue with my education too.

Tracy Poplasky: My daughter, she says to me, "Mom, what's in the past is in the past and we'll let it stay there. It's what is happening now and in the future that's important. And that's what I live by every day.

Without the Chrysalis program, I don't know where I would be right now.

Aetna - a community partner with Chrysalis Center.

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Honor and Remembrance

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Ben Cooper, WWII Veteran and Honorary Grand Marshall
Veteran's Day Parade, Hartford, CT
We left on the Liberty Ship for 30 days. We were in a convoy of over 100 ships just like ours. We had no idea where we were going. They don't tell you. Everything was a big secret. They took us to southern France, Marseille, and then we were sent to different farms until we were sent over to the front lines. The captain told us, "We're going to send you to a camp, Dachau, to be a witness". As we approached the camp, I saw these people coming. They were dressed in these blue and white striped, looked like pajamas, faded, you know. I couldn't tell men from woman that's how emaciated they were. Millions of people murdered, and I just couldn't believe what I was looking at. From 1945 to 1990, I could not talk about it. Because I would see these images of people, that they suffered and what they went through, and I just choked up.

Marilda L. Gándara, President, Aetna Foundation
It's so important for us to pass this on to the next generation. That there also be a clear record as to why we fought.

Ben Cooper: When I was asked to be the honorary Grand Marshall, I didn't know what to expect but that was one of the most magical days of my life. My wife, my family; we all enjoyed it. Something I'll never forget.

Marilda L. Gándara: There had not been a parade in Hartford for almost 10 years, and now it's the largest parade in New England.

Ben Cooper: Soldiers, civilians and everybody. I mean, there was such an enthusiasm about it. It just made your spirits go high.

Marilda L. Gándara: We do this quietly. Nowhere does it say, "It was Aetna who started this. It was Aetna who was the primary sponsor." We put everything aside on the day of the parade, and we're just Americans who are doing our part to honor our veterans.

Ben Cooper: It makes everyone feel like they're doing something worth while. Something that is necessary. It should be done every year. Never forget. Never!

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Spark of Discovery

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Stephen Sawyer, Volunteer Math Mentor: Noah Webster Elementary School
It's just not number crunching and multiplication as people think. Math exists in everything. I'm talking nature, within the arts, within music. You know it really is everywhere and it's not something you're just going to leave behind. That's why these programs are important. Because they can teach kids much, much more. You can see that they took a problem that they thought may have been out of their realm, may have been too difficult and you walk through it with them and you're able to see that spark in them and them saying to you, "I know the answer," and that's a pretty big deal. With that, you can give them the ability to succeed, but not just mathematically. You show them how to respect themselves, other people's opinions, work together in a group. You have an impact on their life. With the Aetna program, we have a lot of volunteers that are able to come, which lets us give individual attention to the students. Not only do you gain their friendship and their trust, but once you have been permission to help them, it's so much easier when you're their friend.

Some of the students here have less than perfect circumstances and school may very well be an escape. I mean "happy" isn't even the word. They are ecstatic that you can come in and it's only an hour every two weeks. I wanted to give back. I'm thrilled that I can come in and spend that time with the kids. Joy is a good adjective to describe it.

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Rhythm and Renewal

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Veta Rodriguez, Aetna Volunteer, Founder and Director: Uptown Troops
You volunteer. Spend your time. Give of yourself. You would do good for someone else as well as for yourself. It's good for the soul.

A group of girls was working together. They were just hanging out in an area in the park, and I'd seen that they were committed. A lot of these children are inner city kids. Some of them have never been out of their neighborhood. They just needed guidance.

Aetna has a program called Volunteer Hours where you don't have to use your vacation time if you are actually performing some type of volunteerism. I took them out of the parking lot and into my home, and then kids just started showing up out of nowhere from all the surrounding towns. They would come and join just for the drill team and the drum corps. Once I got them in there, I said guess what? There are two other components to this organization. If you're going to be a member, you have to do all three. Recreation, life skills, education.

Then my house turned into a Community Center. My mom goes, "They are destroying your furniture. You really need to get those children out of your house." Aetna showed me how to go about getting the organization up and running, and encouraged me to continue to work with the kids.

First competition, it was a national competition, and we went to Chicago and showed our stuff. Our first drill competition and we won first place. We could not believe it.

When one of my members comes to me and says they graduated from college or as simple as saying they are happy and healthy, that's my satisfaction.

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Emblem of Hope

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Judith Lackey, Aetna Volunteer

These children have terminal illnesses. You know they’re challenged through mental illness, physical handicaps, or just, you know, things are, are a little tougher for them than they are for me. So anything that I can do, to make an impact on someone’s life; especially at Aetna, there are so many opportunities that you can do through our volunteer council, locally and, and nationwide.

A CUREchief® is a 22-inch piece of fabric that we surge the two ends and then we fold them up. It’s given to children and adults that have either cancer, or other types of illnesses that cause hair loss, and they can wear them on their head as, as a sense of comfort.

When we handed the CUREchiefs^® out to the children it was just, you know I have goose bumps now thinking about it, the excitement! They were ripping the packages open and throwing the CUREchiefs^® on; and they got to share the different patterns and, and you know fabric types.

To see the smiles on their face, just a simple piece of fabric. Oh!

Again, that feeling of pride and accomplishment that I have, that affect on them will be with me forever.

I’m just going to make them ‘til I can’t sew anymore.

If I can get out there, raise money, raise awareness to the need for other people to help in this cause…

When a cure is found, or a new medical treatment is found, I’ve had an impact on that.


Closing

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The stories you've just seen are only some of hundreds that take place every day as caring people reach out with their time and with their money to build healthier communities and to help those in need.

Building on a culture of caring that stretches back to our company's founding, The Aetna Foundation is proud to have supported this community spirit and this drive for positive change for over 35 years.

Over the years, we have been privileged to work with nonprofits, national philanthropic organizations, community groups, hospitals, universities and many, many others.

Whether these partnerships have focused on health, education, arts, diversity, or a range of other issues, they share one vision: that by working together, we can accomplish great things.

Over the years we have achieved a great deal. From addressing the risks of cancer and heart disease, to bringing greater dignity to the end of life. From bringing quality care to underserved populations, to raising the trajectory of inner-city kids through arts and education.

This good work continues - even as new community challenges arise. The work of the Aetna Foundation and Aetna employee volunteers is more vital, and more needed, than ever.

We will meet these challenges with the generous spirit that has always been a part of Aetna's heritage.

And we look forward to creating many, many more stories of triumph and dedication - like the ones you've seen today - as we go forward in the years ahead.

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