INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Kick Butts Day

PAGE 1

John Keightley,

Vice President of

Development

PAGE 2

Donor Profile: Negrin Family

and Friends

PAGE 2

Campaign for Tobacco-Free

Kids In the News

PAGE 2

Tobacco Indusry Partners

with Convenience Stores

&

Youth Advocates of the Year

Awards Gala

PAGE 3

California Cigarette Tax Bill

PAGE 4

March 21, 2012, marked the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' 17th Annual Kick Butts Day. Kick Butts Day (KBD) is a national day of activism that empowers youth to speak up and take action against Big Tobacco through hundreds of local community events throughout the United States and other countries.

Since the first Kick Butts Day in 1996, the interest and reach of the event has grown exponentially. This year, there were over 1,000 registered events. Many events featured free food, live music, games and other forms of entertainment in effort to promote better clean-air policies and reduce tobacco use in their respective communities.To ensure each group had all the information they needed to get started with their KBD

event, the Campaign provided activists with plenty of resources available on the KBD website, www.kickbuttsday.org. The website allows groups and individuals to order event kits and download activity guides and other promotional materials to hold a successful event. The site also includes a store for people to purchase KBD- or Campaign-branded gear. Thanks to a grant from the United Health Foundation, more than 300 groups received Events-in-a-Box kits for their KBD event.

Late last year, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the United Health Foundation announced a new partnership called For Youth By Youth to help cut the youth smoking rate 25% by 2015. The collaboration includes a grant that will support initiatives to

educate and empower young people as leaders in the fight against tobacco. Initiatives like Kick Butts Day inform local communities and policymakers about the harmful and often deadly effects of tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and around the world.

Despite Big Tobacco's relentless efforts to target kids with enticing marketing ploys, advocates of all ages continue to make an undeniable difference by informing everyone from kids to policymakers about the harmful effects of tobacco and its addictive properties. Kick Butts Day is a great platform that allows young people to get involved in a unique way and bring localized attention to worldwide problem.

To get involved and learn more about Kick Butts Day and other Campaign initiatives, please visit www.tobaccofreekids.org.

National Day of Activism to Kick ButtsYouth Stand Out, Speak Up and Seize Control Against Big Tobacco

ENGAGEWINN ING SMART. SAV ING L IVES .

A Publication by Campaign for

Tobacco-Free Kids

www.tobaccofreekids.org

Edition 2, Issue 1 March 2012

CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS | 1400 EYE STREET NW, SUITE 1200, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 | WWW.TOBACCOFREEKIDS.ORG

Out of sight, but still targeting your child’s mind….

In many ways, the tobacco industry has fallen off the radar. Thanks in large measure to laws and regulations that you and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids helped enact, the industry isn’t as visible as it once was.

Nonetheless, Big Tobacco remains a blip on the screen; working harder than ever to addict a new generation of smokers.

In early March, the U.S. Surgeon General released a startling new report that illustrates how the tobacco industry still entices kids to start using tobacco products. For every person who dies of tobacco-related causes, at least two youths or young adults become new regular smokers and nearly 90% of these “replacement smokers” try their first cigarette by age 18. The Surgeon General’s report further reinforces the unfortunate reality that the fight against the tobacco epidemic is far from over.

This issue of Engage shows you how the Campaign is working with and through people all across the country and around the world. We cannot relax our efforts and we need all the support we can get.

Ready to help? Please join our fight.

Donate today by logging on to www.tobaccofreekids.org/donate.

Thank you,

John KeightleyVice President, Development

VP’S CORNER

DONOR SPOTLIGHTThe 3rd Annual Mike Negrin Night

CAMPAIGN NEWS

The 3rd Annual Mike Negrin Night took place on January 29, 2012 in Kent, Washington. In 2009, the family of Mike Negrin decided to throw an annual event to celebrate Mike Negrin's life and his love of hockey.

Mike was part owner of the Kelowna Rockets, a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Colombia. Each year, the Kelowna Rockets, Mike's favorite team, play the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent. The Negrin family plan their annual event around the matchup and each year the attendance grows exponentially.

Two years ago, Lorren Negrin, Mike's daughter, decided to make it a charitable event and donate profits to a charity of her choice. For 2012 Mike Negrin Hockey Night, Lorren chose the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

"I chose to raise money for the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids because I heard that it is the most prominent anti-tobacco group in the United States," said Lorren. "I feel strongly that if you educate children about smoking they are less likely to smoke as adults. Hockey Night was a huge success and I would like to thank all of the donors and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for all their support!"

Learn about more ways to support Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

• The Knock Tobacco Out of the Park campaign was selected as a finalist in the “Advocacy Campaign and Lobbying Efforts” category for the PR NEWS Nonprofit PR Awards and recognized with the Gold Mercury Award in Non-Profit/Public Affairs: Public Health as well as a nomination for the Grand Award. For more information, visit TobaccoFreeBaseball.org.

• The international edition of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids website has been redesigned. New features include fact sheets, reports translated into six languages, easy access to the new

website TobaccoControlLaws.org. Visit the new international website at Global.TobaccoFreeKids.org.

• The Orange Bowl Committee cancelled a three-year sponsorship agreement with Camacho Cigars after the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, major public health groups, three U.S. Senators and thousands of activists expressed their concern with over 5,000 messages to the Committee and NCAA.

• Students from Suncoast Polytechnical High School in Sarasota, Florida won the Grand Prize in the 2012 Kick Butts Day Public Service Annoucement contest. The PSA spotlights toxins found in cigarettes and their deadly effects on the body. The contest received 112 entries from around the country and a military base in Germany.190M BRAZILIAN LAW makes it the

13th Latin American country to go 100% smoke-free!

more than

citizens protected

Lorren Negrin (left) and her mother, Robin Negrin (right)

According to a new report, convenience stores have become the tobacco industry's newest partners in marketing their harmful products, thereby increasing the potential to entice kids and current tobacco users. Moreover, the industry has managed to solicit the support of many of these stores to fight tax increases and policies that reduce tobacco use. Many stores also receive money from tobacco compaines to heavily advertise and prominently display cheaply-priced tobacco products.

The report calls on elected officials to adopt policies that raise tobacco taxes and reduce tobacco use to counter the influence of point-of-sale marketing. Higher tobacco taxes can help to reduce smoking, especially among kids.

The report, titled “Deadly Alliance: How Tobacco Companies and Convenience Stores Partner to Market Tobacco Products and Fight Life-Saving Policies,” was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Counter Tobacco (a project that works to counter tobacco product sales and marketing at the point of sale) and the American Heart Association.

For more information about Big Tobacco's deadly alliance, visit www.tobaccofreekids.org.

GIVE A TRIBUTE GIFTWhen your gift in honor or in memory is received, we send a personalized tribute to the person or family you indicated, notifying them of your thoughtful donation.

To donate in memory or honor of someone special, contact Louella Haymon at lhaymon@tobaccofreekids.org or log on to www.tobaccofreekids.org/donate.

A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCETobacco Industry Forms Deadly Union with Convenience Stores

TRIBUTE GIFTSThe following people have made gifts in honor or in memory of a loved one, friend or colleague.

October 16, 2011 to March 1, 2012

IN HONOR OF:Gail and David EnglertSusan Englert

Kevin O’FlahertyCharles Bolster

Frank McCarthyEmily McCarthy

Gerri MillerPatricia J. Magnuson

Julie KudrnaPatricia J. Magnuson

Katrina NealStephanie Neal

Teri AshoftehMary Granger

Mr. Stephen HersheyMrs. Linda Rose Iennaco

IN MEMORY OF:Mrs. Betsy HenleyMs. Jane Henley

Ms. Edith ParsonsMs. Charlotte M. Mabe

Mrs. Linda Rose IennacoMr. Stephen Hershey

Ms. Wilma PollockMs. Sherry LessingMr. William Shevlin

Mr. James (Jimmy) JonesMs. Cindy LutzJoe’s Service Center & TowingMr. and Mrs. Joseph Bevacqua

Mr. Bud SpainMr. and Mrs. Robert C. MoserMs. Barbara BrendleWillie and Laura Gumula

Ms. Dipti ShahMs. Anita S. PowellMs. Cynthia PowellMs. Nancy BaruchWendy MahanMr. Aaron Stucker and Ms. Virginia Howard

Mrs. Miriam ShorrBarbara and Mike Feldman

Ms. Lillie BesserMr. Bryan WeissmanMr. Nathan KhakshouriMs. Tracy BaumMr. Kenneth Friedman

Mark your calendars for May 17, 2012, as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids celebrates 16 years of life-saving progress against tobacco at the annual Youth Advocates of the Year Awards Gala in Washington, DC.

The gala celebrates the accomplishments of outstanding young people and tobacco control advocates in the United States and around the world. Join us along with business, philanthropic and government leaders to mark progress toward creating a future free of the death and disease caused by tobacco use, the number one leading cause of preventable death worldwide.

Get Gala TicketsPURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE AT www.tobaccofreekids.org/gala

CONTACT LOUELLA HAYMON AT 202.296.5469 or lhaymon@tobaccofreekids.org

16th AnnualYOUTH ADVOCATES of the Year Awards Gala

May 17, 2012The Ritz-Carlton HotelWashington, DC6:00PM Reception7:00PM Dinner and AwardsRSVP by May 4, 2012

CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS | 1400 EYE STREET NW, SUITE 1200, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 | WWW.TOBACCOFREEKIDS.ORG

BIG TOBACCO'S EFFORT TO TARNISH GOLDEN STATE

Tobacco Industry Spends $15 Million to Combat California $1 Cigarette Tax

CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS 1400 EYE STREET NW, SUITE 1200 WASHINGTON, DC 20005

Save lives, save money and protect kids. A proposed California cigarette tax seeks to achieve just that. The California Cancer Research Act would boost California's cigarette tax by $1 to fund cancer research and tobacco-prevention programs. The bill will appear on the June 5, 2012 ballot.

Altria Group and Reynolds American, Inc. have shelled out nearly $15 million to oppose the bill. The amount is almost five times more than the $3.2 million raised by supporters including Lance Armstrong Foundation, American Cancer Society and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Californians for a Cure is a coalition of health advocates who support the referendum that, if passed, will help save thousands of lives and billions of dollars for the state. However, a group called Californians Against Out-of-Control Taxes and Spending opposes the referendum claiming that it is an unnecessary tax hike. The reality is that the bill will help prevent kids from smoking and encourage

adult smokers to quit. Since the group is majorly funded by Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it is no wonder why they want this pontentially life-saving measure to fail.

Big Tobacco has a long-standing history of putting profits before health and, unfortunately, this story is not specific to California. Just last year, Altria spent millions of dollars lobbying against a cigarette tax hike in Idaho. In the midst of these hard financial times, states across the country are stretching their budgets by cutting tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Tobacco control advocates are needed to continue the fight against Big Tobacco’s presence.

In addition to the initiative in California, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has six states where there are advocates are actively fighting to protect citizens from the dangers of tobacco use. The states are Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina and Ohio. Each of these states face

an uphill battle in terms of inacting smoke-free laws and tobacco control initatives.

The most recent Surgeon General’s Report released in early March revealed that a number of budget-strapped states are raiding tobacco settlement funds. Consequently, the smoking rates in these states have increased.

Visit www.tobaccofreekids.org to learn more about issues in your state and how your support can help win each fight.