FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    Contact:          Deidre McHugh-Tichner

                                                                                                  (603) 448-1525

                                                                                                  dmtco@comcast.net

December 27, 2007

UPPER VALLEY NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION PARTNERS WITH WORLD-RENOWNED PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION

Lebanon, NH- Bonnie CLAC of Lebanon, New Hampshire, a nonprofit car purchasing program, was recently awarded a $750,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The grant will help Bonnie CLAC fully measure the improved health and well-being of its lower-income and vulnerable clients in New England.

Bonnie CLAC was recognized by RWJF for its non-traditional approach of improving healthcare through the purchase of a new vehicle. “As a car purchasing program, we are a very unusual model for Robert Wood Johnson…but we have both realized a synergy between Bonnie CLAC’s model and Robert Wood Johnson’s health aims.  Since its inception, Bonnie CLAC has witnessed significant, life altering social, physical and mental health-related changes in our clients.  We now have an opportunity to document the ways that the economic incentive of a car purchase, coupled with the intensive counseling, financial fitness and goal setting we provide, can lead to quantifiable behavioral change and healthier lifestyles” says Robert Chambers, founder of Bonnie CLAC.

Bonnie CLAC (Car Loans And Counseling) is a nonprofit car purchasing program, established in 2001, to provide financial literacy training, car buying assistance and loan guarantees to individuals from all walks of life.  In particular, Bonnie CLAC brings loan costs and new cars within reach of the working poor, who might otherwise pay high finance charges for unreliable older vehicles, resulting in lower maintenance costs, higher fuel efficiency, and substantial savings.  To date, Bonnie CLAC has helped over 1,000 individuals through their finance program; women comprise approximately 73% of Bonnie CLAC clients.

Bonnie CLAC has branch offices in Lebanon, Concord, Keene, Manchester, Exeter, Colebrook (Coos County) and Portsmouth, NH. For more information: bonnieclac.org.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.  For more than 35 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.