Since 2007, grassroots solutions has been working with Meeker McLeod Sibley Tobacco Free Youth (MMS TFY) to help train and engage local youth in becoming active organizers in their community, focusing on passing outdoor tobacco-free policies.

Last summer, MMS TFY was making serious progress in developing youth leaders and organizing youth around the successful passage of 12 local tobacco-free policies, but as summer approached, they were worried about continuing to engage youth with competing summer vacations and jobs.

grassroots solutions worked with MMS TFY to develop a summer engagement campaign called, “Where Has Your TFY T-shirt Been This Summer?”  The campaign asked youth to take photos of themselves and their friends wearing their TFY t-shirts throughout the summer months.  These young people then emailed their photos to the TFY coordinator, and the photos were posted on the TFY website.  Youth were able to email or text their votes for the best photo and prizes were given throughout the summer.

The campaign gave TFY organizers a vehicle to keep youth engaged and connected during the busy summer months, and inspired ongoing action around tobacco control policy even while the young people were not in school.
In May of 2009, MMS TFY presented on the “Where Has Your TFY T-shirt Been This Summer?” campaign at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health.  The purpose of the presentation was to provide youth advocates from around the country ideas about how to engage youth in policy change in a creative and innovative way.

The t-shirt campaign also inspired other creative efforts such as “butt squads”, where area youth picked up cigarette butts at public events, such as the county fair.  Youth later presented the butts and met with elected officials and board members to demonstrate how much area youth were being exposed to tobacco. As a result, the Meeker County Fairboard adopted a tobacco-free policy for the Meeker County Fair. The policy restricts tobacco use on the fairgrounds during the Meeker County Fair with a few designated smoking areas beginning this summer.

In addition, TFY youth in Lester Prairie made a presentation seeking a tobacco-free parks policy to their park board.  The presentation was lead by three youth who attended grassroots solutions’ Campaign Camps in both 2008 and 2009.  As a result of these young people’s efforts, the park board voted unanimously to recommend that the full city council make all parks in Lester Prairie tobacco-free.