Blue Envelope Health Expo

    Dedicated to serving the community.

    Since its founding in Casper in 1958, the Blue Envelope Health Fund has always been about community and caring through a unique, all-volunteer local organization focused on health care issues.

    This special concept for dealing with health-related issues had its beginnings in the early 1950's, when, in response to an alarming number of rheumatic fever cases in Casper, which at that time had a population of 27,000, a program of throat swabbing to detect strep infection, the precursor of rheumatic fever, was implemented under the direction of Dr. Brendan Phibbs with the support and assistance of the Casper medical community.

    This innovative program involved an army of volunteer mothers who, after receiving the appropriate training, undertook the throat swabbing project at all the Casper elementary schools. This true community effort to deal with the rheumatic fever problem resulted nationwide attention as the only enforced mass throat culture in the country.

    In order to support the community's throat culture program and realizing what motivated volunteers could accomplish while working with the Casper medical community, a group of concerned citizens formed a local organization to support a campaign against the three major diseases of the time - cancer, heart disease and mental illness.

    Focusing on these issues, Blue Envelope formed three Divisions for Cancer, Heart Disease and Mental Illness which have their own officers and members who study and recommend expenditures which are then voted on by the Blue Envelope Board of Directors.

    Why is this special organization called "The Blue Envelope Health Fund?" Continuing a philosophy which endures to this day, Blue Envelope has always stressed that donations should go where intended at the local level, to help with health care, and not for overhead expenses and when, in the early days of the organization, a low bid on envelopes, which turned out to be blue instead of white, was received, the Blue Envelope board started using those envelopes which soon became identified with the organization and eventually became the legal name.

    Through the years, the Blue Envelope Heath Fund has supported many community health-related services including CPR training classes, YMCA programs, and cardiac rehabilitation along with direct financial assistance and has been instrumental in the establishment of the Life Flight air ambulance service in Wyoming, the Central Wyoming Counseling Center and the Central Wyoming Hospice program.

    In 1973, Blue Envelope organized the Blue Envelope Health Fair which is annually attended by several thousand people and in 2001, to further promote wellness and disease prevention, a Wellness Division was established with the goal of developing a community wellness program in partnership with other community health organizations.

    To learn more about Blue Envelope projects and services, click on Health Divisions.

    Review a listing of Equipment purchased by Blue Envelope Health Fund.