Youth Fest
The Youth Fest was hosted by the Breathe Youth Advisory Board (YAB), on March 7th. We had been planning the event for the past few months, and were so happy with how it turned out!
We first started with the introductions of Breathe California Sacramento Region alongside the Youth Advisory Board, followed by the thanking of our sponsors who helped this event come to life! From the City of Sacramento, SMUD, the Crocker Art Museum, to Roseville Golfland Sunsplash, and a lot more–our event was made possible by such sponsors.
We then did a Get-To-Know-You BINGO, where different squares on the BINGO card were filled with different questions, and people had to walk around the room to find other people who were able to sign a square for you! It was amazing to see everyone participating and walking around–however, I was unable to complete my own BINGO card due to the amount of signing I was doing!
We then released all of our attendees to dinner, which included things such as pizza, and a variety of different snacks provided by us! We also were generously donated food from Panda Express, which included some delicious chow mein and orange chicken. As everyone chowed down on their food, the YAB members sat at a corner of the stage, having a great time eating and talking! As we ate, we also listened to some guest speakers that provided us with a variety of different information!
After dinner, we began our quiz game with questions curated by the YAB members. These questions contained a series of different information about the impacts that commercial tobacco has on our community, truly illustrating how harmful tobacco can be to public health, the environment, and much more.
Following the quiz, we announced the PSA video contest winners! Over 30 PSA videos were received from 71 students across 11 different schools around Sacramento County. We had three different categories of winners: High School, Middle School, and BREATHE Picks. Check out the winners here!
Following the announcement of the PSA video contest winners, we announced the free time activities that we had! From making friendship bracelets, to taking photos at the photo booth, to giant Jenga, and much more–there were a variety of different activities perfect for all ages!
Finally, we ended our night by announcing our raffle prize winners. Throughout the night, our attendees had the ability to earn different raffle tickets from participating in and sharing their voices in different activities. The raffle prizes included things such as tickets to Roseville Golfland Sunsplash, three different headphone cases, two tickets to the Crocker Art Museum and SMUD MOSAC, and many more!
Overall, the other YAB members and I were so excited to see our event that we had been planning truly come to life! We received so many attendees and genuinely had a great time interacting with other attendees, our own YAB members, and the amazing speakers we had at the event! At Breathe California Sacramento Region, our YAB members from around Sacramento County truly have the ability to create an everlasting impact on youth of all ages! By outreaching and educating youth around Sacramento County about the true dangers and reality of tobacco, we can slowly break the cycle of tobacco-usage that has been increasing within teens to achieve a tobacco-free community within Sacramento.
A very special thank you to Anthem Blue-Cross Medi-Cal for sponsoring the 11th Annual Breathe Youth Fest!
Authors: Samuel Lau (Youth Advisory Board President), and Ellen Brickey