FOR RELEASE October 18, 2005
Contact: Bev Pfeifer-Harms
314.345.5505 office

Three Organizations Receive Tobacco Program Funding

St. Louis, October 18- The Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) has announced that three organizations have received funding as part of the Foundation's Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative.

Randolph County Health Department will receive $969,548 over three years to implement Project SmokeBusters in Randolph County and 16 additional northeast and north-central Missouri counties. SmokeBusters is a three-year youth education and advocacy program designed to influence youth to become critical thinkers, to avoid tobacco use and to become advocates for tobacco-free environments.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services will receive $140,310 over three years to enhance tobacco control policies in workplaces throughout the MFH service region and to expand the Missouri Tobacco Quit Line.

The Curators of the University of Missouri will receive $2,594,864 over three years to develop a sustainable campus-community alliance to provide tobacco control leadership, address tobacco control initiatives and promote cessation in communities throughout the state.

The Foundation's initiative, which kicked off last year and runs through 2014, is a multi-phase program that involves several activities including grantmaking and policy development. The initiative attacks the problem of tobacco use on two levels. Regional grants support the development of specific strategies for tobacco prevention and cessation on regional levels. Community grants will be awarded to community-based agencies that implement models and activities designed by the regional grant recipients at the local level.

"Working together, these grants can significantly impact the effectiveness of both the larger and community-based organizations to meet the needs of Missourians who are trying to stop smoking and to educate our youth about the health risks of tobacco products," Kimmey added.

Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, resulting in more than 440,000 premature deaths nationally and 10,300 deaths in the state of Missouri each year. Health officials in Missouri face a continued challenge to reduce the burden tobacco use places on the health and economy of our state.

MFH is the largest health foundation in Missouri and the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in the state. The Foundation is celebrating the completion of three years of successful grantmaking during which $140 million in grants and awards have gone to improve the health of the people in the communities it serves. For additional information about MFH, visit www.mffh.org.

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