The ‘Fresh’ things in life are free.
One of the benefits of being a YAA in a small town is that you have unique opportunities to reach people that you may not get in bigger cities. Case in point, Caledonia’s town-wide garage sale.
For those of you new to the garage sale phenomenon, once a summer a large portion of Caledonia’s residents set up tables on their driveways and try to pass off their crap…I mean sell their goods to people from across Haldimand County. Fresh Heir couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity, where people of all ages and from all walks of life come right to your doorstep! And so the dedicated Peer Leaders arose from their slumbers in the wee hours of the morn for a 6am arrival at a fellow musketeer’s house.
Armed with the slogan and key message, that “living tobacco-free makes cents”, the products were displayed to draw in those bargain hunters. Would they succeed in their hopes of educating the community about the financial benefits of a tobacco free lifestyle? Only time would tell as they searched the horizon for their first guest.
Instead of selling products we put price tags on items that they believed that people would want. Each tag had an amount and a time in months that it would take to save that amount if the money went towards the bank and not the industry. For example, there was an 80 GB iPod with a tag that read: $275 = one month of remaining tobacco free. How clever indeed.
The members of Fresh Heir also offered people free lemonade as they came by. And with the hot temperatures that day, many people were lured in by the refreshing drink, but they ended up staying to read the tags. Many premiums, palm cards and quit smoking pamphlets were also given out to those who came by. Small children were delighted to snag highlighters, pens, palm tangles and mints. People were also counted as they came by, this way they were able to find out how successful our event was. How clever indeed, again!
By the end of the hot day, or around 10:30 am when people stopped coming by, Fresh Heir decided to pack it up. While enjoying a glass or two of lemonade themselves, the number of people was counted. A total of three hundred sixty-six people came, that’s 366 written in numbers. This was an inspirational total for the small youth-led group, or the three musketeers from the Haldimand portion of Fresh Heir as they are known on the streets. We are hoping now that people understand that living tobacco free makes cents!
See you all next blog!
HCAAT – Moving out and moving forward!
School is over, summer is here, and some HCAAT members are moving on to new challenges! Hamilton Public Health Services is presently recruiting a new group of Peer Leaders to work alongside those scheduled to return for the coming school year.
For some this is a sad time as many great friendships and strong bonds have been made over the years. All the best to those who are mocing on and heart-felt thanks for the hard work you’ve put into supporting HCAAT. And to those joining HCAAT, WELCOME!
Despite these changes HCAAT has a busy schedule ahead. Our “To-Do List” starts with the HCAAT compilation CD, and being a priority, we’re working hard and fast to get it to completion. The CD will incorporate original songs by local musical artists in all genres. Songs submitted are required to contain a message about de-normalization or teen empowerment and songs that make it on to the CD will be recorded in the near future.
Those Peer Leaders who are with us over the summer are hard at work planning and developing Teen Tobacco Summit VIII which will be held October 10, 2008 at the Courtyeard Marriott in Hamilton. In partnership with the Central West Youth Coalition, HCAAT is poised to kick-off its Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Campaign this September. Working closely with the Stoney Creek Girls Hockey Association (SCGHA) HCAAT is proud to be a feature sponsor of the University, Midget and Bantam Showcase tournaments being held in September. Plans are also underway to play a central role in the SCGHA’s inaugural Stoney Creek Challenge Cup which will bring elite U18 female hockey players to our community from all over North America in December. In the works are plans for participating in the Royal Botanical Gardens’ summer camp programs and the SPCA Wiggle Waggle Walk-a-thon through interactive activities and a booth.
To support our veteran Peer Leaders we are creating sustainable training resources for HCAAT, specifically a series of training videos. As many of our experienced Peer Leaders are moving on this summer the group has recorded some instructional videos, such as how to create a street marketing event, to ease the training load and help Peer Leaders in their new positions.
At the end of June HCAAT held its annual End of Year Roast which consisted of the Peer Leaders and the Youth Advisors enjoying some laughter together. The Peer Leaders used scripts, props, and hilarious acting to poke fun of the Youth Advisors while the Youth Advisors created a “Star Wars” themed video spoofing HCAAT’s Peer Leaders and volunteers. It was a memorable evening for those in attendance – we laughed, we cried, and there were even some laugh-cry-combos!
And last but certainly not least, on June 16 we held our last street marketing event before summer break called “Big Tobacco Stops You Dead in Your Tracks.” The purpose of the event was to expose the tobacco industry’s deception and lies – while promoting HCAAT of course – by freezing in place for two minutes in busy down town Hamilton. A media crew captured the event which was televised a few days later. This initiative was a great way to kick-start a new slate of events coming this fall 2008 and left a positive final imprint in the memories of those Peer Leaders who are moving on.
From a very busy HCAAT…we wish you all a safe and fun summer.
