Women Solve Awarded Tobacco Merchant Education Grant

Photo From: Ambassador Butler of Y.E.T, doing an educational visit to a merchant.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Women Solve Awarded Tobacco Merchant Education Grant

Frederick, MD, October 7, 2024 – Women Solve has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the Frederick County Health Department (FCHD) to implement a comprehensive tobacco merchant education program. This initiative addresses the concerning rates of tobacco use among Frederick County’s youth, where 33.7% of high school students reported current use of tobacco products, including electronic smoking devices (ESDs), and 31.4% reported current use of e-cigarettes (Frederick County Health Department, 2024).

The program will engage up to 248 tobacco merchants throughout Frederick County, integrating Women Solve Y.E.T. (Your Every Tomorrow) Smoke and Vape FREE campaign. The Y.E.T. initiative empowers middle and high school students to become community ambassadors, actively leading educational visits to merchants. “We are excited to partner with the Frederick County Health Department and include our Y.E.T. student ambassadors in this critical effort,” said Desirée Tucker, Executive Director of Women Solve. “This grant enables us to engage directly with merchants and leverage youth leadership to comply with laws designed to protect public health, particularly the well-being of young people.”

Student ambassadors from the Y.E.T. program will directly inform store managers about state and county tobacco sales laws, focusing on preventing underage sales. Hispanic/Latinx students in Frederick County represent the largest percentage of tobacco users at 10.1%, compared to 6.8% among White students, highlighting the importance of targeted community outreach (Frederick County Health Department, 2024).

The Y.E.T. Campaign Ambassador program provides students with compliance requirements and public health advocacy training, improving their public speaking skills and civic engagement. As part of the program, Women Solve will conduct educational visits and provide ongoing updates to local and state agencies, supporting transparency and accountability throughout the initiative.

For more information about the Tobacco Merchant Education Program or to support Women Solve efforts, please visit womensolve.org or contact Desirée Tucker at desiree.tucker@womensolve.org.

Sources: Frederick County Health Department. (2024). FY2024 Tobacco Prevention Program: Youth Tobacco Use Data. Retrieved from https://health.frederickcountymd.gov