Health Net Hosts 17th Annual Celebration of Children Holiday Event for Disadvantaged Children

Woodland Hills-based Health Net of California will host its 17th annual Celebration of Children holiday event on Sunday, December 21, at 10 a.m., bringing together local disadvantaged children for a holiday event that will include food, arts & crafts, games, pictures with Santa and gifts for each child. The event will be hosted by more than 75 Health Net volunteers and held at the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills.

Children ages 4 to 11 have been invited from local agencies to the event that concludes with the child receiving an age-appropriate toy donated by a company associate. More than 300 children will be participating from Los Angeles-area organizations including Beyond Shelter, East Los Angeles Women’s Center, The Grace Elliott Center, L.A. Bridges Program, House of Ruth, Lennox Sheriff’s Youth Activity, MotherNet, Regis House and West Valley Family Y.M.C.A.

In addition to California, Health Net will also host similar events in Virginia, Arizona and Oregon. This year, Health Net will host 1,600 disadvantaged children across the country. Over the past 17 years, Health Net’s Celebration of Children holiday events have brightened the holiday season for more than 21,000 children.

“It’s a tradition for Health Net to forgo a company holiday party and instead donate the time and money to host a Celebration of Children event,” said Steven Sell, president of Health Net of California. “The events are a great experience, bringing extra smiles and holiday joy to local children in these challenging times.”

Celebration of Children was launched in 1992 when a group of Health Net associates recommended to the company’s chairman and president, Roger Greaves, that they give up the traditional office holiday party and share their holiday cheer with disadvantaged children. His wife Erika created the first event for Health Net and has chaired Celebration of Children since its inception.

About Health Net

Health Net of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), is one of the largest health plans in the state. Together with Health Net Life Insurance Company, it serves nearly 2.3 million members statewide and contracts with more than 56,000 physicians, 300-plus hospitals and nearly 5,000 pharmacies, giving its members greater choice and more convenient access to care. Its commercial HMO and POS lines of business and its Medicare line of business have received the “Excellent” accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and its Medicaid line of business has received the “Commendable” accreditation status. For more information about Health Net, visit its Web site at www.healthnet.com.