BOSTON and WELLESLEY, Mass., Dec.
5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Life and the Boston Celtics
closed out the sixth-annual #SunLifeDunk4Diabetes campaign and
presented $105,000 to the YMCA of
Greater Boston for its Diabetes
Prevention Program, a year-long nutrition and health course that
helps at-risk adults avoid a diabetes diagnosis. Throughout
November, which is Diabetes Awareness Month, each Celtics dunk
earned a $1,000 donation from Sun
Life, and $2,000 for Jaylen Brown's dunk on November 13 in recognition of World Diabetes Day.
This November the Celtics tallied 49 dunks, led by Jayson Tatum with 14, followed by Daniel Theis and Robert
Williams with 11 each.
"We are extremely proud of the work we have been able to do in
partnership with the Boston Celtics and the YMCA of Greater Boston," said Neil Haynes, CFO of Sun Life U.S. and board
member of the YMCA of Greater
Boston. "Sun Life's purpose includes helping people live
healthier lives, and we want our community involvement to have the
same goals. We are thrilled to be able to help more people in the
Greater Boston community access
the Y's Diabetes Prevention Program."
In addition to dunks from the players, Celtics fans rallied to
support the campaign by engaging on social media and posting the
hashtag #SunLifeDunk4Diabetes on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
more than 15,000 times, each earning a $1 donation for the campaign, and $2 during the November
13 game. The Celtics matched $25,000 for dunks, and Sun Life matched hashtags
and social posts with another $15,000.
"We are so fortunate to have partnerships with Sun Life and the
Celtics, who care about the Boston
community and helping people achieve better health," said
James Morton, CEO of the YMCA of
Greater Boston. "Our programs and
communities succeed when we have this kind of support, and we're
thrilled to continue serving the citizens of Greater Boston."
"We have such incredible fans who not only cheer on our players,
but engage so enthusiastically in our community programs," said
Ted Dalton, senior vice president of
Corporate Partnerships for the Boston Celtics. "Sun Life has been a
great partner in moving these programs forward and finding ways for
the fans to be involved and make a difference."
#SunLifeDunk4Diabetes has now raised $497,000 since it started in 2014. The campaign
is part of Sun Life's broad and historical support of the YMCA's
Diabetes Prevention Program, which Sun Life helped launch in
Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Kansas City, Mo., in 2014. Since the program's
launch, more than 65,000 people have participated at over 1,700 Ys
across the country.
Sun Life is strongly committed to the fight against diabetes. In
addition to community support in partnership with the Celtics, Sun
Life conducts a similar program with the Kansas City Royals, and
maintains a partnership with the American Diabetes Association to
support education, advocacy and engagement initiatives. Sun Life
also offers the Team Up Against Diabetes Grant Program, which funds
grassroots organizations focused on diabetes education, management
and support. To date, Sun Life has donated more than $19 million globally to support diabetes
programs, and $2.5 million to
programs focused on diabetes prevention in the U.S.
To learn more about Sun Life's diabetes programs and
initiatives, visit www.sunlife.com/usdiabetes.
About the Boston Celtics
A charter member of the
Basketball Association of America (which evolved into the National
Basketball Association) since 1946, the Boston Celtics have won a
record 17 NBA Championships, including eight (8) in a row from
1959-1966, winning their first title in 1957 and their most recent
in 2008. The Celtics have long stood for equality and respect,
including hiring the first African American Coach and starting the
first all black starting five. In addition, 39 former Celtics
players, management or staff have been inducted into the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In December 2002 the team returned to local
ownership for the first time since 1963. For more information, log
on to www.celtics.com.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international
financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and
asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun
Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong
Kong, the Philippines,
Japan, Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2019, Sun Life had total assets
under management of C$1,063 billion.
For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
In the United States, Sun Life
is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than
60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the
country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and
services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life,
dental, vision, voluntary and medical stop-loss. Sun Life and its
affiliates in asset management businesses in the U.S. employ
approximately 5,500 people. Group insurance policies are issued by
Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley
Hills, Mass.), except in New
York, where policies are issued by Sun Life and Health
Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing,
Mich.). For more information, please visit
www.sunlife.com/us.
About the YMCA of Greater
Boston
The YMCA of Greater
Boston is one of Massachusetts leading nonprofits committed to
strengthening communities by improving health, empowering youth and
activating people for good. Every day the Y works with thousands of
men, women, and children to ensure that everyone, regardless of
age, income or background, has access to Y programs and
services. As the nation's fifth largest charity, the Y
is creating a community of caring people through meaningful
memberships. For more than 165 years, the Y has been developing
skills and emotional well-being through education and training,
welcoming and connecting diverse populations, preventing chronic
disease and building healthier communities. The YMCA of
Greater Boston is America's first
Y.
Media Contacts:
Devon Portney Fernald
Sun Life Financial
781-416-7151
devon.portney.fernald@sunlife.com
Heather Walker
Boston Celtics
617-854-8072
hwalker@celtics.com
Irene Collins
YMCA of Greater Boston
617-927-8044
icollins@ymcaboston.org
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SOURCE Sun Life