On Monday, November 18th, the Spink County Coalition met at noon at Leo’s Good Food to discuss the five grants that they have received to better serve the community.
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Spink County Coalition to put five new grants to use in the community
By Shiloh Appel
On Monday, November 18th, the Spink County Coalition met at noon at Leo’s Good Food to discuss the five grants that they have received to better serve the community. Those five grants include the $20,000 Tobacco Grant from the SD Department of Health, $10,000 Community Innovation Grant from the SD Community Foundation, $25,000 Highway Safety Grant from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, $87,000 Underage Alcohol Prevention Grant from the SD Department of Social Services and Behavioral Health, and the nearly $4,000 Opioid Grant, also from the SD Department of Social Services and Behavioral Health.
The Coalition plans to use the Tobacco Grant to review and revise tobacco policies in the area, advertise those policies, put out information on the consequences of tobacco use in newsletters, newspapers, and in social media, and purchase and post new signs around town concerning tobacco use and the presence of tobacco in certain vaping products. The Coalition also plans to assist health teachers, faculty, and medical providers with resources for educating youth and young adults on nicotine cessation and Quitline. One way in which the Coalition has taken an active role in tobacco use prevention is their involvement in the “Great American Smokeout,” a day for people to set a plan to quit smoking, which is held the third Thursday of November every year. Throughout the day, Coalition members handed out “Quit Kits” that contain various things to help people quit smoking and vaping. The kits contain information and oral substitutes such as gum and candies. They also contain sensory items such as play dough and twisty sticks.
“We’ll hand them out at the dentist office, clinic, hospital, social services, health department, Northeast mental health, and the chiropractor,” said Le Ann Wasmoen, Spink County Coalition Director. “We talked about going to the food truck and maybe giving some information because a lot of people are actually standing in line smoking or vaping as they are getting their food, so we try to think outside of the box on where we can go and share information.”