January 6, 2006
Contact: Bev Pfeifer-Harms
Director of Communications
314.345.5500 office

Two Area Groups Receive Funding to 'TATU' Youth

MFH awards $464,092 to help citizens stop smoking

St. Louis - Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) has awarded a total of $464,092 in grants to the St. Louis chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA) and the Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) as part of MFH's nine-year, $40 million Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative.

NCADA received a $245,292 community grant for a youth empowerment program that teaches young people about the dangers of tobacco use. The program, Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU), is a nationally recognized curriculum created by the American Lung Association of Missouri. The Lung Association received a regional grant from MFH in 2004 to expand training for organizations interested in implementing several programs, including TATU. Per the initiative's guidelines, community grant recipients, such as NCADA, implement the regional grantee's programs in order to maximize the consistency and effectiveness of messages, models and activities aimed at preventing and curbing tobacco use.

NCADA estimates the TATU program will bring messages to discourage tobacco use and tout the advantages of smoke-free environments to more than 12,000 youth throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The Jefferson County Health Department also was awarded a $218,800 grant to implement TATU, as well as two additional Lung Association-created programs, Employer Assisted Smoking Elimination (EASE) and Freedom From Smoking (FFS), which focus on helping adults kick the habit.

As part of its efforts, JCHD will work with trained youth to develop a media campaign about the dangers of smoking and available cessation resources. This campaign will use radio, newspaper, and billboard messaging and could reach an estimated 82,000 Jefferson County residents.

"Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and results in the death of 10,300 Missourians each year," said Dr. James Kimmey, MFH president and CEO. "Both of these groups have a great deal of experience in reducing tobacco use in their communities. With their track record of success, we're confident that these community grants will result in improved health for many Missourians."

MFH's Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative focuses on three areas - school-based prevention programming, workplace cessation programming and an increase of the state tobacco tax. MFH already has granted about $6.8 million to nine regional and community organizations through this initiative.

Established in 2000, MFH is the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in the state. The Foundation is in its fourth year of grantmaking, having issued more than $148 million in grants and awards to date. It is dedicated to serving the uninsured and underserved in 84 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis. For more information about MFH, visit www.mffh.org.

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