The Standard Charitable Foundation grants $15,000 to Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center

The Standard Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Standard Insurance Company ("The Standard”), has announced a $15,000 grant to Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center (Virginia Garcia). The grant supports high-quality, affordable health care for uninsured and underinsured individuals and families and those facing cultural, linguistic and geographic barriers to accessing care in Oregon’s Washington and Yamhill counties.

"When families can’t access affordable health care, all Oregonians bear the costs,” said Gil Muñoz, CEO of Virginia Garcia. "The support of The Standard Charitable Foundation and others in the community enables Virginia Garcia to continue providing much-needed affordable and comprehensive primary care to uninsured individuals and families in the region – protecting our communities’ health and economic well being.”

While Virginia Garcia is recognized as highly cost-efficient, much of the care provided to patients each year is uncompensated due to a large population of uninsured patients, many of whom are children. The one-year, $15,000 grant from The Standard Charitable Foundation will enable underinsured and uninsured patients to obtain the health care they need and will help Virginia Garcia operate at its most optimal level.

"The Foundation’s grant to Virginia Garcia is a natural extension of The Standard’s business focus of helping people overcome life’s challenges so they can pursue their dreams,” said Greg Ness, president of The Standard Charitable Foundation and president and CEO at The Standard. "We’re proud to support this important community resource’s continued service to our local communities’ most at-risk members, which helps them obtain quality health care so they can lead better lives.”

For more information about The Standard Charitable Foundation, please visit www.standard.com/foundation.

About The Standard Charitable Foundation

The Standard Charitable Foundation is the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of The Standard. Founded in 2006, the Foundation’s mission is to make a positive difference in communities by supporting community development, education, disability and health organizations. While the Foundation has a broad goal of making a positive difference in communities, it places special emphasis on helping individuals and families who have experienced a loss or setback such as a major disability or the loss of a loved one. Since 2006, The Standard, its employees and The Standard Charitable Foundation have contributed more than $8 million in grants and social investments.

About The Standard

The Standard is a leading provider of financial products and services. The company serves approximately 7.6 million customers nationwide as of Sept. 30, 2010, with group and individual disability insurance, group life, AD&D, dental and vision insurance, retirement plans products and services, individual annuities and investment advice. For more information about The Standard, visit www.standard.com.

The Standard is the marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

About Virginia Garcia

Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center was founded in 1975 in memory of six-year-old Virginia Garcia who, after experiencing a simple foot wound, died a preventable death resulting from the unavailability of appropriate cultural and lingual medical services. Virginia Garcia provides over 110,000 office visits to more than 30,000 patients a year in Washington and Yamhill counties at four primary care clinics, three dental offices and two school-based health centers. Virginia Garcia also provides outreach to schools, community health fairs and to migrant and seasonal farm workers at local camps through a mobile clinic. For more information, visit http://www.virginiagarcia.org.