NEWS RELEASE

Windward Mall Partnered with the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council

Windward Mall partnered with the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council to help raise awareness of the impacts of tobacco use with a display of slippers in Center Court. In January, the Youth Council set up a display of new slippers in Center Court to represent the tragic number of people who die from smoking.

According to the Hawai‘i Pacific Health Institute, 21,000 of the state’s keiki alive today will ultimately die from smoking unless current smoking rates decline. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. To bring attention to this tragic figure, the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council set a goal to collect 21,000 pairs of new slippers across the state to represent these lost lives.

From Jan. 9 through 30, the Youth Council collected 500 pairs of slippers at Windward Mall, which will be donated to groups working with at-risk youths and keiki experiencing homelessness. Health issues and deaths can be minimized by making products such as flavored tobacco less accessible to kids.

“The Windward Mall ʻohana is committed to supporting educational projects or campaigns advocating the harmful effects of smoking and vaping with our keiki and adolescents,” said Cesar Topacio, general manager of Windward Mall. “We were pleased to host the Youth Council’s campaign and will continue to support their efforts to protect our keiki against the dangers of tobacco.”

Last September, several Kamehameha Schools (KS) students were among those honored as National Group Youth Advocates of the Year. KS Kapālama seniors Joshua Ching and Logan Lau, and junior Chanel Matsumoto collaborated with junior Aubrey Ahana from KS Maui and freshman Julie Nacionales from KS Hawai‘i as part of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council. Youth Council members work year-round with local leaders on policies to protect kids and vulnerable communities from the harmful effects of tobacco, as well as educating their peers.

“I heard a presentation about the tobacco industry, and what struck me was how it specifically targets and exploits the Native Hawaiian community. This is something that is actually impacting the lāhui negatively in a tangible way,” said KS Kapālama senior Joshua Ching.

In Hawaiʻi, tobacco use claims 1,400 lives and costs $526 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 5.3% of Hawai‘i’s high school students smoke cigarettes and 30.6% use e-cigarettes, according to the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i. To combat the toll that tobacco takes on communities across Hawaiʻi, the Youth Council advocates to end the sale of flavored tobacco products and is working to preserve dedicated funding for tobacco prevention and quit-smoking programs.

Photos and video are available for download here (Courtesy Hawai‘i Public Health Institute). For more information on the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i Youth Council, please visit https://www.hiphi.org/youth/.

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