• Bronson United Methodist Youth Group, Bronson
• Clay Center Community Middle School, Clay Center
• Clifton-Clyde TASK Force, Clifton
• Grizzly Student Council, Altamont
• Humboldt Middle School Student Council, Humboldt
• Lane County TASK, Dighton
• Manhattan Baseball Association and other Sports, Manhattan
• Manhattan High School Teens Leading Teens, Manhattan
• Maramont Valley High School, Moran
• Peers Understanding Peer Pressure, Independence
• Republic County Youth Group, Courtland
• Students Against Destructive Decisions, Iola
• TRUCE: Teens Resisting Unhealthy Choices Everyday, Bennington

Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition has awarded six additional youth groups with mini-grants as part of the Capacity Building grant from the Kansas Health Foundation for tobacco prevention efforts. Award amounts were up to $1,200 each.

• DFYIT "Drug Free Youth in Town", Great Bend
• FCCLA/Heartland Prairie Sisters, Dodge City
• Fort Scott High School FCCLA, Fort Scott
• Louisburg Teens As Teachers, Louisburg
• Smokefree Tiger Task Force, Stockton
• St. John's RAPP, Salina

The Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, Inc. (TFKC) and TASK, the statewide youth movement against tobacco, through a grant from the American Legacy Foundation®, a national public health foundation devoted to tobacco use prevention and cessation, is working to support youth tobacco prevention efforts in Kansas. To achieve these goals, TFKC will engage youth in implementing grassroots and media strategies through mini-grants for youth groups primarily in 28-targeted Kansas counties eligible to apply for mini-grants of up to $1,250.

Tobacco use remains a leading public health issue in Kansas. The 2007 Kansas Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 21 percent of Kansas high school students currently smoke cigarettes, a higher rate than the 17.9 percent smoking rate for Kansas adults according to the 2007 Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. To help youth address this health problem, TFKC will utilize the American Legacy Foundation grant to provide training and mini grants to empower local youth to be agents of change for reducing tobacco use, particularly in rural communities.

“The trainings and the subsequent mini-grant funding will encourage teens to ask questions and seek answers about the tobacco industry’s marketing and manufacturing practices,” TFKC Executive Director Mary Jayne Hellebust said. “This will help Kansas teens make reasoned decisions on the importance of avoiding a product that kills 1,200 of its customers every day.” She noted that more than 150 youth had attended tobacco prevention trainings in Chanute, Garden City and Manhattan this fall. In addition, 19 youth groups have been awarded mini-grants to work on media and tobacco prevention projects in their communities. (13 from Legacy Foundation funding and six from matching funds from a TFKC grant award from the Kansas Health Foundation These projects are located in 18 different cities.)

American Legacy Foundation®
TFKC is one of 11 agencies from 18 states awarded a “truth® or Consequences” grant from the American Legacy Foundation®. The TFKC grant targets three clusters of 27 counties in southeast, southwest and north central Kansas with little or no current funding to help youth fight tobacco use. To broaden the reach of the “truth® or Consequences” project, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Legacy Foundation® are airing an increased amount of truth® campaign ads with powerful messages on tobacco specifically created for youth. Legacy’s truth® youth smoking prevention campaign is the only national youth tobacco prevention advertising campaign not directed by a tobacco company.

At the campaign’s web site, http://www.thetruth.com, teen can learn tobacco-related facts, play games, dowload tools, and send messages. Much of the information is designed to spread virally through the teen community. truth® also has a presence on popular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. 

Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition
The Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition is a statewide alliance of health, education, parent, youth, law enforcement and other civic organizations and individuals. TFKC advocates for laws, policies and funding of effective programs that will result in significant reductions in tobacco use and addiction, especially among children and high-risk groups. The coalition’s major goals are to prevent children from beginning a lifelong addiction to tobacco, to help those who want to quit smoking, to protect non-smokers from exposure to secondhand smoke, and to protect and assist those populations disparately affected by tobacco use. For more information on TFKC please visit tobaccofreekansas.org. Youth mini-grants are provided through grant funding from by the Kansas Health Foundation. The Kansas Health Foundation is a private philanthropy dedicated to improving the health of all Kansans. Using a strategic grant-making approach, the Foundation seeks opportunities to invest its resources in people and projects that meet its mission and create long-term, sustainable health improvements. Initiatives supported by Foundation funds generally fall into one of four categories: public health, policy, leadership and children’s health. In the area of public health grants are focused on tobacco prevention, nutrition and physical activity efforts and the state’s public health infrastructure.

TASK
Initially formed in 1998 as an offshoot of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, TASK has evolved into an independent entity involved with the prevention of Kansas teen tobacco use. TASK assists local groups with becoming established TASK "companies" through the distribution of mini-grants. Companies work to inform teens of big tobacco manipulation and further the TASK mission of reducing teen smoking in Kansas. Three TASK regional coalition boards (west, central and east) and three regional consultants provide guidance and technical assistance to TASK companies.