1998 Award Winners National Winner East Mid-West Central South West Group Award

Deanna Durrett, a 16-year-old 10th grader from Louisville, Kentucky, is the South Region Winner of the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS’ 1998 Youth Advocates of the Year Awards. The nationwide competition recognizes outstanding youth advocacy efforts by young tobacco control activists. Deanna received her title in Washington, DC on April 30, 1998.

Deanna has testified before the Kentucky House of Representatives’ Health and Welfare Committee and has lobbied extensively to gain support for stronger tobacco control policies. As a volunteer on Project START organized by the Alliance to Control Tobacco in Our Neighborhoods Deanna helped organize a rally on the steps of the state capitol at which 200 teens learned how to contact their legislators and lobby for tougher tobacco control legislation. She also works with the Alcohol Beverage Control Board to make tobacco less accessible to teens through undercover buying operations at local stores.

Deanna was recognized for her volunteer work by the American Lung Association when, in 1995, she was named the first-ever national youth "Volunteer of the Year." She also earned the distinction of being the first teen to serve on the Kentucky chapter’s Executive Board.