Tobacco Opponents Get Funds from Suit
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (June 7, 2006) – Three local anti-smoking groups will be spreading their message for another year with the help of Brazos County's tobacco settlement funds, the commissioners court decided Tuesday. Family Practice Foundation of the Brazos Valley, Hospice Brazos Valley and Stand Tall Against Tobacco will receive $130,000 for their efforts.
The groups were recommended by a review committee charged with overseeing the county's multimillion-dollar Community Healthcare Endowment Fund, which was created in 1998. Each year commissioners dole out interest from the fund to support anti-smoking projects.
The largest recipient this year was Family Practice Foundation of the Brazos Valley, whose Tar Wars prevention program - aimed at fifth-, sixth- and ninth-graders - received $60,000. Hospice Brazos Valley, which cares for residents dying of tobacco-related illnesses, will receive $55,900.
In addition, Stand Tall Against Tobacco will receive $14,100. The group, which goes by the acronym STAT, was started by medical students at Texas A&M University who sought to teach seventh-graders about the dangers of smoking.
The funding year for each program will begin in October.
