News and Events
Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County Elects New Advisory Board
November 10, 2015
The Tobacco Free Partnership of Gilchrist County recently elected new Advisory Council members including two youth members and two adult members to lead the tobacco prevention outreach of the group in Gilchrist County.
| Kalin Siegel is a freshman who takes classes at Florida Virtual School and has been a SWAT member for three years. Kalin has also been an active 4-H member since elementary school. She became involved in community activities to help keep youth in Gilchrist County from starting to use tobacco through the SWAT 4-H Club, and serves as the Gilchrist County SWAT representative to regional and state meetings. She also advocated for flavored tobacco resolutions in Bell and Trenton, and spoke to the Town Council and City Commission about the issue. |  |
| Joshua Akin is a senior at Trenton High School and has been a SWAT member for six years. Joshua has also been a 4-H member for 12 years. Joshua has participated in numerous SWAT activities over the past 6 years including Kick Butts Day, Great American Smoke Out, and attending regional SWAT meetings as a Gilchrist County representative. Joshua traveled to Washington D.C. to speak to his Senators and Representative about the impact of cigars and flavored cigars on young people in Gilchrist County. He recently attended the Gilchrist County Legislative Delegation and spoke about the impact SWAT is making in Gilchrist County. |  |
The two adult members of the Tobacco Free Partnership Advisory Council are Verna Wilson and Jaime Hinote. Verna Wilson serves as the Misdemeanor Deputy Clerk at the Gilchrist County Clerk of Courts Office, and Jaime Hinote serves as the Enrollment and Eligibility Specialist for Palms Medical Group. Ms. Wilson has been a member of the Tobacco Free Partnership for the past 6 years and Ms. Hinote has been a member for the past 4 years. In addition, they have both been supportive of initiatives in the community such as Relay for Life, which the Tobacco Free Partnership supports each year.
The hard work of these volunteer leaders is evident in the community. Both youth and adult smoking rates have decreased in Gilchrist County over the past 7 years. The Tobacco Free Partnership Advisory Council members are passionate about their community and use their free time to serve others by improving it. The Tobacco Free Partnership could not have better representatives leading them this year!
For more information on the work of the Tobacco Free Partnership, contact the Partnership Facilitator, Tracy DeCubellis, at TracyD@QuitDoc.com.
