Pleased with support

To the editor:

Alaska Family Services Tobacco Prevention and Control program would like to thank Pandemonium Booksellers and Café, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District and Country Legends 100.9 radio station for supporting our recent LIPS Campaign event.

The LIPS Campaign is a national effort aimed at promoting anti-tobacco advocacy among teens. It was created by a North Carolina teen in response to a quote from a tobacco-industry executive who, when asked what age group his company targeted in its marketing, responded, “They got lips? We want them.” Through the LIPS Campaign, teens snap photos of each others’ lips and pledge to remain tobacco-free.

Pandemonium allowed Mat-Su TATU (Teens Against Tobacco Use) to conduct a LIPS event in its café Nov. 19 in conjunction with the Great American Smokeout. The school district helped raise interest in the event by distributing posters to local high schools and middle schools, and Country Legends helped promote it with an on-the-air interview of some of our TATU members. Thanks to this support, more than 40 Mat-Su teens participated in our local LIPS event and pledged to remain tobacco-free.

Becky Stoppa,

Program coordinator

Alaska Family Services Tobacco Prevention & Control