Whats Y-ACT Been Up To?
Y-ACT has just completed two very successful events! The first being Poochie Power Walk. We partnered with the Cambridge Humane Society and of set up a booth all about the dangers of Second hand smoke and the effects it has on pets. We used the tag line “Smoke in the snout makes your dog pout.” We brought three of our dogs with us and participated in the day’s activities! People participating in the walk received free homemade dog treats labelled with stickers reading “Treat your pet to a smoke-free home!” People seemed receptive to our messages and some expressed that they had never really thought about the impact of second hand smoke on pets.
Toxik and Y-ACT (Youth Acting for Change on Tobacco), gathered on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at the Cambridge Heritage Soccer Tournament held at Riverside Park. They set up a booth and a balloon drop to raise awareness about the dangers of using Tobacco Industry products and sports. People at the event were able to hit a target, and get a ‘Tobacco Executive’ soaked with a water balloon. They would then go to the booth where they were able to receive a variety of prizes, such as; Tobacco Free Sports t-shirts, stickers, thunder sticks, and Frisbees. Many people also participated in filling out the community readiness survey about tobacco and sports. Most people were receptive to our messages, and gave us a lot of support.
Sweet Summertime by Detox Peer Leader, Amanda Christie
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy… or just busy, if you’re a Detox Peer Leader! It’s been an exciting summer, so let’s dive right in!
We started July with a public education event on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on Canada Day. We made a timeline about the steps Canada has taken to restrict the tobacco industry, and steps that we can still take regarding the FCTC. We took the timeline and some posters downtown and spoke to passers-by about the 4 recommendations we’d like the Canadian government to take action on. Just a few days earlier we had a letter to the editor on the topic appear in 2 of our local newspapers, so the timing worked well. Detox plans to present our knowledge to Public Health before taking it to our politicians to advocate for them to honour their commitments to the treaty.
The following weekend was our much-anticipated Tobacco Free Softball Tournament. We heard many stories about athletes’ experiences regarding tobacco, and surveyed over 60 people. Thanks to Fresh Heir for the idea of the thundersticks – they were a hit! We gave our t-shirts to some of the softball teams who pledged to use them as their warm up shirts. The CWYC banner went over well, as did Smokey, and our “Fight the Industry” game.
Smoke-fx and our facebook page have undergone a serious re-vamp, resulting in many more friend requests and comments. Keep checking them to see our new facts, photos, and notes.
After months of talking about wanting volunteers, we are pleased to welcome Katie, Deanna, and Brooke to the Detox team! Thanks to their help, the following event went smoothly…
Our commercial and Public Service Announcement were released to the public at our local cinema before the previews of the feature film on August 9th. At this event we got several more signatures on our ‘Support the Fight Against the Tobacco Industry’ banner, and gave away our new ‘Don’t let the Tobacco Industry sneak up on you’ t-shirts. You can watch our 2 minute commercial on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/DetoxYAA.
On August 8th, some Peer Leaders and Volunteers unleashed their chalking skills on the 2 local arenas. At the Fergus Arena, before an open-swim, we chalked messages focused on denormalization and at the Elora Arena, before a lacrosse game, we chalked messages about chew tobacco. We love chalking… if only the rain would stay away for a few days!!
On a personal note, I would like to say farewell to Detox and the rest of you as I am leaving for Queen’s University in September.
We are getting prepared for several events: butt litter clean up, Tobacco-Free Ball Hockey Tournament, the 9 Metre Rule campaign, and presentations for middle schools. Look for all this and more by a new blogger in 2 months time.
The Fight the Industry sponge game has been a good way to draw people over to our displays at summer events.
Detox and SWAT joined forces for the Softball Tournament in Palmerston on July 5th
Katie performed as Smokey for the PSA Premiere on August 9th... don't let the tobacco industry sneak up on you!
Life in Brant County…with REVEAL
REVEAL has 2 peer leaders working for the summer. We are hard at work planning our Tobacco Free Sports event for September. We’re looking at a Brantford football league, or flag football, with kids between 14-17. We’ve hired 6 new peer leaders that will start at the end of August, and have also been working on an updated orientation presentation.
We’ve also done a few summer camp presentations in July, to kids between the ages of 5-16, which were very successful. The younger kids seemed to get more into it than the older kids, but the older kids did participate in our activity, which was good. We have another presentation next week, and we’re also working on updating a lot of the questions in our trivia games.
We are hoping to do “pick up butts” in the fall, and we are really excited about The G-BAT 10×10 banner, and hope to get as many signatures as we can.
Life is good at the Brant County health unit, see everyone at the next meeting!
