Highlights from 2nd Quarter 2011 – 2012

It’s hard to believe 2011 has come and gone. I guess this proves that time flys when you’re having fun – encouraging Arkansas’ minority communities to Stamp Out Smoking! This past quarter, your MISRGO team was busy encouraging the prevention and cessation of tobacco. Below is just a quick recap of our successes:

• November 29th, your MISRGO team hosted an informative workshop entitled Outing Tobacco: Practices & Prevention in LGBT Communities. This free event focused on best practices and prevention strategies to de-market tobacco in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) community. More than 50 sub-grantees, community supporters and anti-tobacco advocates participated in this workshop!
• December 10th, your MISRGO team launched the holiday season with participation in the 2011 – 2012 Jammers Charity Basketball Games. From December – May 2012, MISRGO will partner with Jammers to increase awareness of the ills of tobacco consumption, distribute educational materials, inform audiences about services accessible via the Quit Line and much more! Average attendance for the games is 500! We encourage each of you to come out and support your MISRGO team. Check us out in action at the following: 
• Camden   Feb 10 
• Stuttgart   Feb 18 
• Hope   Mar 3 
• Cotton Plant   Mar 10 
• Fordyce   Mar 17 
• Warren   Mar 31 
• Russellville   Apr 14 
• Hot Springs   Apr 28 
• Monticello   May 5 
• Dermott   May 19

MISRGO booth at December 17th Jammers game
in McGhee, Arkansas (Desha County)

Toni McCastle, Media Liaison, shares tobacco facts with December 10th
Jammers game attendees in Benton, Arkansas (Saline County)

Judge Frank Weaver and Madison County Health Coalition Collaborate for Great American Smokeout Day

Judge Frank Weaver partnered with the Madison County Health Coalition by signing a proclamation for November 17th, 2011 as the Great American Smokeout.  Millions of smokers have participated in the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, a day on which they give up cigarettes for 24 hours - in hopes that they may quit for good.  If you choose to quit and decide you need help, call 1-800-Quit-Now (1-800-784-8669).

Headstart Students Learn that Tobacco is "Yucky"

Learning that Tobacco is bad for them!

November 15, 2011, headstart students colored the Act 811 activity book and learned that cigarettes are bad for them.  The little poems were read to them by the coordinator and all students chimed in saying that cigarettes are "YUCKY"!  Parents are signing the Smokefree Home/Car pledge and sign-in sheets will be picked up when finished.

MISRGO Grantee Shares Major Accomploshment

Katherine Donald of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas spearheads a system change for the Law Enforcement Training Academy in Camden.  Below Katherine shares her success with the team here at MISRGO:

New Advertising Features NBA Star!

The Minority Initiative of Stamp Out Smoking will launch this year’s public education efforts with new television and radio advertising featuring former Razorback and current Chicago Bulls player, Ronnie Brewer.

Entitled I Can’t Imagine, the TV/radio advertisements highlight Ronnie in the element that has deemed him a star - basketball. Leveraging this star power and appeal to the Minority Initiative of Stamp Out Smoking’s target audience (African American males, ages 18+), the TV/radio advertisements feature Ronnie reminiscing on the path he has taken to pave his career while underscoring how life may be totally different had he chosen to smoke.

“It was indeed a pleasure to work with Ronnie for this creative initiative,” stated Toni McCastle, Media Liaison for MISRGO and the Addiction Studies Program. “With our charge to create healthier lives in our state by sharing the life-saving benefits of tobacco cessation and encouraging minority populations to quit tobacco use, we could not have chosen a better advocate to carry this message.”

The new ads are scheduled to air in October and will run through June 2012. Click here to view photos from our exciting creative shoot with Ronnie.  Be on the lookout for the advertisements and we welcome your feedback!

Highlights from 1st Quarter 2011 – 2012

We have definitely kicked off the 1st quarter with a bang! One of our grantees, the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas (CTFA), began this fiscal year by acknowledging the institution of the new second-hand smoke law, Act 811, and the fifth anniversary of Acts 8 and 13. July 27th, CTFA successfully executed a press conference at the State Capitol Rotunda that garnered significant media coverage and support from anti-tobacco advocates across the State of Arkansas. Take a look at this link to review footage of the press conference.

Congratulations to the State of Arkansas for continuing its efforts to secure healthier futures for our valued youth!

Your MISRGO team has been busy advocating tobacco-free lives via a series of community-outreach events. Most recently, we participated in:

• UAPB Arkansas Classic Golf Tournament – September 2nd 

Toni McCastle, UAPB/SOS Media Liaison
and Chancellor Davis stand proud on the course

Toni McCastle, UAPB/SOS Media Liaison
and our golf team prep for tournament

  

• Delta Classic for Literacy “Old Skool” Concert – September 2nd 

Ruthie Johnson and Connie Robinson of MISRGO
manage booth at concert

• Mexican Independence Day – September 16th 

Yolanda Amaya and Sue Espinoza (MISRGO grantee)
manage booth at festival

Youth dancers prepare for performance

During each of these events, our dedicated team educated both African Americans and Hispanics about the ills of tobacco consumption and the availability of quitting resources via the Quit Line. From the distribution of educational materials from our booths to on-stage announcements, these events allowed us to direct our anti-tobacco messaging to our target audience in support of our on-going public education campaign. We are proud of our execution of these events and look forward to successful execution into the next quarter! 

Madison County Health Coalition Congratulates Rusty Johnson

Sergeant Rusty Johnson of Madison County wins the Trail Blazing Award during the Striking Out Tobacco Conference, August 26, 2011 in Little Rock. He works for the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission and is a native of Madison County. He is a certified car seat installer and volunteers his time to install car seats. Madison County Health Coalition is very proud of what Rusty does in the county by Volunteering his time to make our little citizens a lot saver and buckled up the proper way in a car seat. As the car seats are installed, parents are educated about the dangers of smoking in the vehicle with children present, secondhand smoke and the new Act 811.