Nationwide Call For Nominations Announced
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Looks for “Best and Brightest” Youth Advocates
October 15, 1998
Washington, DC - The CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS is seeking nominations for the 1999 Youth Advocates of the Year Awards, an annual competition that recognizes outstanding youth advocates who lead the charge against tobacco use by young people. Award nominees must demonstrate the impact their initiative, leadership, creative thinking, problem solving ability, and communication skills have on protecting youth from tobacco. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, February 19, 1999. “These youth leaders take an active stand for and with other kids in demanding tobacco-free lives and healthier futures,” said Bill Novelli, president of the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS. “They are determined to prevent their peers from being seduced into a lifetime of nicotine addiction.” Award recipients represent the CAMPAIGN as tobacco control advocates at: meetings on Capitol Hill; with national media outlets, including The Rosie O’Donnell Show, CNN, Teen People and The Kansas City Star; and at special events, including a rally with President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, the CAMPAIGN’s national spokesperson. The 1998 National Youth Advocate of the Year is Emily Broxterman, a junior from Overland Park, Kansas who played a major role in enacting a state bill to restrict youth access to tobacco products. Emily continues to organize an annual event she founded that educates hundreds of Kansas youth about the legislative process and the life-threatening hazards of tobacco use. The 1998 regional winners, each of whom helped educate young people about the dangers of tobacco and supported tobacco control legislation, include: ? Deanna Durrett of Louisville, Kentucky ? Gretchen Sneegas of Indianapolis, Indiana ? Amanda Tunnel of Norman, Oklahoma ? Annie Aguilar of Alhambra, California ? Michael Higgins of Monroeville, New Jersey The group winner, New York City-based S.H.O.C.K. (Saving the Health of Our Communities and Kids), includes nearly 40 high school students who testified at hearings and collected 4,200 signatures to help pass a measure prohibiting tobacco advertising within 1,000 feet of any school, playground or child care facility in New York City. The Youth Advocates of the Year Awards were established in 1996 as part of the CAMPAIGN’s goal to involve kids as tobacco control advocates in their communities and to recognize them for their accomplishments. For more information on nominating an outstanding youth tobacco control advocate, contact: CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS Attn: Youth Advocates Awards 1707 L Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-296-5469 Fax: 202-296-5427 You may also access the nomination directions online by visiting the CAMPAIGN’s web site: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org (click on Youth Award). The Washington, D.C.-based CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS is the largest initiative ever undertaken to decrease youth tobacco use in the United States. Its mandate is to focus the nation's attention and action on keeping tobacco marketing from seducing children, and making tobacco less accessible to kids.