Members of St. Charles Park District’s STC Underground Teen Center will appear before the St. Charles Park Board at 6:30 p.m.  May 12, 2015, in the Pottawatomie Community Center, 8 North Avenue, to advocate for a smoke-free parks ordinance for the city of St. Charles.

Back in December, 2014, the teens conducted a survey to determine community support for a smoke-free parks policy. Of the 116 surveys completed, a majority showed strong support for smoke-free parks.

STC Underground Teen Center is a unique place for teens to “hang out”, socialize, play games, surf the internet, watch TV, do homework, and much more.  Participating members of the teen center have volunteered one Friday per month to work on this smoke-free initiative.

STC Underground, along with the Bridging the Gap East Aurora Snowball group and the Youth Leadership Academy, all take part in the anti-smoking efforts of Reality Kane, which is part of the larger, statewide program of REALITY Illinois. REALITY Illinois is an in-your-face, stand-up-and-shout, not-taking-it-anymore anti-tobacco movement created by and for Illinois teens. With some help from the Illinois Department of Public Health and local health departments, REALITY Illinois is spreading the word about tobacco industry manipulation, second-hand smoke, and tobacco use to everyone in the state.

To learn of other anti-smoking activities in Kane County, please follow the Kane County Health Department Reality Kane page on Facebook, on Twitter @RealityKane or EnjoyGram page.

For more information about Reality Kane, and the Kane County Health Department’s tobacco program, please visit the Kane County Health Department website and click on the tobacco program page.

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department press release