Date/Time
Date(s) - May 17, 2020
12:00 am
Good Morning Colleagues, Public Health and Grassroots Advocates and Friends,
I am writing to you asking for help. We desire to increase Arkansas’s participation in the national No Menthol Sunday day of observance on May 17, 2020. People all across the country will be doing the same. We are striving for Arkansas to be one of the top performers, in terms of the number of official participants. You become official through registering with NAATPN, Inc. The link to register can be found at the end of this message. We are seeking pastors, ministers, and other faith-leaders to play an active role in the day of observance. To participate is simple and easy, the first thing to do is to officially register, and sign up to order free church fans and other promotional items, while the supply last. Second, download the toolkit for 2020 and take advantage of one or more of the samples of activities that can be done virtually, or in person while you still practice social distancing.
About No Menthol Sunday:
NAATPN’s annual No Menthol Sunday is an exciting time for faith communities to effect change in the health of their congregations. Each year we encourage faith leaders to talk about the importance of living healthfully—not only for the sake of one’s own sacred physical body, but for the sake of the African-American community as a whole. We emphasize the role of menthol in quitting tobacco, but we don’t stop there. We speak loudly against social, economic and governmental systems that perpetuate health disparities and keep tobacco use at status quo.
Our 2020 theme, Awaken!, encourages us not be deceived by the ill intentions of others. It exclaims that we must awaken ourselves to the truth so that we may be wise and expose deception and complacency (Ephesians 5:5-15). In essence, the passage calls us to stay woke!
If you are not a faith leader, but you are affiliated with a local church or another kind of faith network, please encourage your leadership to sign up for No Menthol Sunday. And if you could, would you provide us feedback, to let us know your church, temple, mosque, prayer group, Sunday School, or any other entity will participate at some level, from simply dressing in the color green on May 17th and taking your picture with a No Menthol Sunday hashtag, to publishing menthol tobacco facts in your church bulletin, or the many other areas in between. Our goal is to get at least twenty (20) churches/faith networks to officially register. Those entities, groups or individuals that actively participate and submit documentation of the participation to kdonald@arfreshair.com will be entered into a random drawing for a $50.00 VISA card. All entries must be received by Friday, May 22nd, and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th.
Don’t forget to register and request your free promotional items, while they last. Click on the various links just below to get started.
You can register to participate, you can order your free promotional items, you can download the tool-kit, etc. We’ve also included a link about COVID-19 and it’s impact of communities of color. Take Action Today!
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My Kindest Regards,
Katherine Donald
Executive Director
Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas
1100 N. University Avenue
Suite 257
Little Rock, Arkansas 72207
(501) 912-4668 (cell)
(501) 414-2576 (office)
(501) 687-0347 (fax)
www.arfreshair.com