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

Foundation Grants $825,000 to Help Curb Tobacco Use in Missouri

Groups in St. Louis, central & southeast Missouri receive funding

St. Louis - - Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) has awarded five community grants totaling more than $825,000 to five groups in the state to implement tobacco control programs as part of its nine-year, $40 million Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative. The groups receiving grants are: St. Louis chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, $245,292; Jefferson County Health Department, $218,800; Butler County Health Department, $205,050; Miller County Health Department, $133,131; and Scott County Health Department, $23,639.

The St. Louis chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA) will implement a youth empowerment program that teaches young people about the dangers of tobacco use. The program is called Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU). NCADA estimates TATU will bring messages that discourage tobacco use and tout the advantages of smoke-free environments to more than 12,000 youth and adults throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) also will implement TATU, along with two adult-focused programs, Employer Assisted Smoking Elimination (EASE) and Freedom From Smoking (FFS). JCHD plans to reach 82,000 Jefferson County residents with messages about the dangers of smoking and available resources to stop using tobacco products.

Butler County Health Department will implement the TATU and EASE programs; Scott County Health Department and Miller County Health Department will offer both of those two programs as well as FFS.
All of the smoking cessation and prevention programs being implemented are nationally recognized programs created by the American Lung Association of Missouri. The Lung Association received a regional grant from MFH in 2004 to expand training for community organizations interested in implementing the three programs. Per the initiative's guidelines, community grant recipients, such as these five groups, implement the Lung Association programs in order to maximize the consistency and effectiveness of messages, models and activities aimed at preventing and curbing tobacco use.

"Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., and results in the death of 10,300 Missourians each year. Sadly, several Missouri regions have higher-than-average smoking rates," said Dr. James Kimmey, MFH president and CEO. "The Foundation is confident that these community grants will help many individuals stop smoking and prevent hundreds of others from starting."

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 in this effort.

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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