Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield partners with Boys & Girls Clubs to share about mental health

To help address the alarming rate at which children of all ages continue to face mental health challenges, the Blue & You Foundation has provided a $500,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to implement trauma-informed care. In addition, the national Blue Cross Blue Shield Association has also committed to hosting activities focused on improving mental health at the Boys & Girls Clubs, which engage more than 3 million children and teens around the country.

In Arkansas, our employee volunteers – BlueCares volunteers – are visiting five area Boys & Girls Clubs each month throughout 2025, creating activities that show students how to incorporate mental health into their lives. The five Boys & Girls Clubs are Billy Mitchell, Penick, Thrasher and Whetstone, all in Little Rock, and Wetherington in North Little Rock.

During the first event in April, students watched a video discussing about how emotions can sometimes feel out of control. Afterward, they made glitter jars – jars filled with glitter and water. When shaken, the glitter spinning around in the jar represents how it feels when our emotions are spinning out of control. Students were encouraged to take deep breaths while the glitter settled to settle their emotions. In addition to serving as a reminder to pause, watching the glitter settle has a calming effect.

In May, employees helped students create fluffy slime. Not only is it fun, but playing with slime is a calming and therapeutic sensory experience that can positively impact a person’s mental health by reducing stress and calming emotions. The visits will continue this summer.