Youth From Waltham Gather in Boston to Participate in Kick Butts Day Event at Massachusetts State House

Contacts:

Larissa Swenson

Bay State Community Services

857-939-4528

lswenson@baystatecs.org

Joan Rubel

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413-884-4804
jrubel@moreadvertising.com

WHO: Young leaders from Waltham will join more than 200 other young people from across Massachusetts to celebrate Kick Butts Day at the State House. In addition, the Adult Advisor award will be presented to Shanesha Christmas for her dedication to youth tobacco prevention and promoting youth voices. Kick Butts Day is an annual event that highlights how youth fight the influence of the tobacco industry in their communities.

SEE IMAGES FOR LIST OF CHAPTERS ATTENDING

WHAT: As part of The 84 Movement, a statewide tobacco prevention program, Massachusetts youth will mark Kick Butts Day by attending a youth-led rally, marching across the Boston Common to the State House and talking with their lawmakers to express their concerns. The day starts with an inspiring welcome and remarks by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health and legislators. A closing awards ceremony highlights the important work of The 84 chapters around the state. This year’s event focuses on tobacco products like e-cigarettes that are sweet, cheap and easy to get in pharmacies and corner stores. The U.S. Surgeon General has called e-cigarettes an emerging public health threat. Youth leaders of The 84 Movement educate and mobilize young people to take action to protect their communities from the tobacco industry. Follow on Twitter @The84Movement and join the conversation with #The84KBD.

WHEN: WEDNESDAY APRIL 26, 2017 (Rescheduled date due to weather.)

9:15 AM: Kick-off event including Statewide Youth Leadership Award announcement

11:00 AM: March to the State House and legislative visits

1:15 PM: Closing ceremony and chapter awards program

WHERE: Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 138 Tremont Street

About The 84 Movement

The 84 Movement is a program of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health developed and managed in partnership with Health Resources in Action. Created in 2007 to represent the 84% of Massachusetts youth who did not smoke cigarettes (in 2015 that number was 92%), The 84 Movement is a tobacco prevention program that empowers young people to fight the influence of the tobacco industry in their community.

To find out more information on The 84 Movement and the work being done throughout the Commonwealth to make smoking history, visit www.The84.org and www.makesmokinghistory.org.

The Greater Boston Tobacco-Free Community Partnership supports communities’ efforts to lower smoking prevalence and exposure to secondhand smoke; enhance state and local tobacco control efforts by exposing tobacco industry tactics, mobilizing the community to support and adopt evidence-based policies, and changing social norms. Funded by the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, Community Partnerships serve as a resource for local coalitions, health and human service agencies, municipalities, and workplaces on tobacco intervention efforts.

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