Students Working Against Tobacco Elect Sachit Gali to Its Leadership Board
Sarasota County, Fla. – Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), Florida’s statewide youth-led movement to combat the tobacco industry, announced the names of its new Youth Advocacy Boardmembers. Sachit Gali, a student at Pine View School, was named as a member of the SWAT Youth Advocacy Board for a second year.
The Youth Advocacy Board works in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida to help plan SWAT organization’s direction and goals, and provide input on the state’s youth prevention efforts. Students work with county grantees to support initiatives that educate their peers about tobacco use, help protect youth from tobacco, and strengthen local policies, especially those that protect the public from secondhand smoke exposure.
SWAT aims to empower, educate and equip Florida youth to revolt against Big Tobacco. The group is a movement of inspired youth working together to de-glamorize tobacco use. Its efforts aim to shape tobacco free norms, and make tobacco less desirable, less acceptable and less accessible.
Gali was also selected as a 2018-2019 National Youth Ambassador for The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. National Youth Ambassadors are exemplary youth advocates who have demonstrated dedication in the fight against tobacco, and are interested in growing their advocacy skills. These select youth leaders receive specialized in-person and web-based training, as well as opportunities to engage in advocacy as leaders on a statewide, national and even international level. From July 8th– July 12th Gali attended a Youth Advocacy Symposium Training in Washington DC where he participated in advocacy trainings and learned about tobacco issues/legislation at the federal level.
“I’m thrilled to be elected to the Youth Advocacy Board for a second term,” said Sachit. “I look forward to contributing ideas on what campaigns we can work on and how we can make them successful.”
Members of the SWAT Youth Advocacy Board will serve a term through June 30, 2019.
About the Florida Department of Health
The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.
Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.
About Tobacco Free Florida
The department’s Tobacco Free Florida campaign is a statewide cessation and prevention campaign funded by Florida’s tobacco settlement fund. Since the program began in 2007, more than 188,000 Floridians have successfully quit using one of Tobacco Free Florida’s free tools and services. There are now approximately 451,000 fewer adult smokers in Florida than there was 10 years ago, and the state has saved $17.7 billion in health care costs. To learn more about Tobacco Free Florida’s Quit Your Way services, visit www.tobaccofreeflorida.com or follow the campaign on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TobaccoFreeFlorida or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tobaccofreefla.
For more information on Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids visit https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/.
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