Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club Implements Smoke-Free Policy

In keeping with their philosophy and efforts to promote health and wellness, Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club and Melillo Mental Health Center, along with the Tobacco Action Coalition of LI (TAC), have implemented a Tobacco Free Outdoor Policy at 113 Glen Cove Avenue in Glen Cove. The entire property, including walkways and parking lots, is now a smoke free zone with smoking strictly prohibited anywhere on the site.

“Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club shares many of the TAC’s concerns, most notably keeping our youth from becoming the next generation of smokers. We make every concerted effort to create a culture of wellbeing by offering programs teaching and encouraging our kids to adopt healthy habits and make smart decisions. By prohibiting smoking anywhere on our grounds, we are taking yet another positive step to ensure that we promote an environment of wellness for our Club members and our community. We hope our decision to implement a smoke free atmosphere will inspire smokers to make quitting a priority,” said Melissa Rhodes, GCBGC Executive Director.

The Tobacco Action Coalition is one of 25 Community Partnerships funded by grants from the NYS Department of Health Tobacco Control Program working towards Advancing Tobacco Free Communities. Under this initiative, TAC is working with businesses and community organizations to implement voluntary entryway bans and tobacco free grounds as well as educating local municipalities about the benefits of adopting tobacco use restrictions for playgrounds, parks, beaches and outdoor recreational areas. Through this proactive partnership with the TAC, Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club and Melillo Mental Health Center have joined the ranks of more than 460 municipalities statewide and several hundred businesses, health care facilities, libraries and community agencies in creating policies to protect the public from the dangers of second-hand smoke, cigarette litter, and addressing the need to change the social norms associated with the acceptability of tobacco usage, especially among young and impressionable youth.

“Sadly 90% of all smokers begin smoking before the age of 18 and this can lead to a dangerous lifelong addiction. With the number of youth participating at the Boys & Girls Club, and clients visiting the Melillo Center, instituting a smoke free zone at 113 Glen Cove Avenue is a real win-win in our efforts to protect the public and de-normalize smoking as an acceptable norm,” said Carol Meschkow, Nassau County Community Engagement Coordinator for TAC.

TAC has been working with the City and has been an active member of Glen Cove Substance Abuse Free Environmental Agency’s (SAFE, Inc.) community coalition for several years. TAC has partnering on many environmental strategies throughout Glen Cove, including with the Boys & Girls Club, also a member of SAFE’s coalition. TAC assisted SAFE-Project Pride with materials for a Point-of- Sale Youth Awareness Program at the Club to help educate teens about the Tobacco Lobby’s deceptive advertising practices, and the need to reduce their exposure to tobacco marketing. “This collaboration has provided No Smoking signage for the City’s parks, beaches and other municipal recreational venues to communicate their Tobacco Free Grounds Policy. TAC has worked with the City in their efforts to ban Hookah lounges, move tobacco advertising 1,000 feet away from schools and youth facilities, addressing E-cigarettes and most recently their work with the Glen Cove Housing Authority,” said Dr. Sharon Harris, Executive Director of SAFE, Inc.

For more information about the Tobacco Action Coalition of LI visit breathfreely.org. For more information on Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club, visit glencovebgc.org.