OGDENSBURG – Area youth are teaming up with Reality Check of St. Lawrence County to join thousands of kids across the country who are taking part in Kick Butts Day on Wednesday, March 21, a nationwide initiative that makes kids leaders in the effort to stop youth tobacco use.

As part of the Kick Butts Day celebration, several local activities will be taking place to get important information about how the tobacco industry is still targeting kids.

“When we work together we are stronger than the tobacco industry,” said Lilly Clifford, Canton Reality Check youth. “By exposing how the tobacco companies are still targeting us we hope to keep kids from smoking, so nobody else will get hurt.”

Local events include:

• The Clifton-Fine SADD students are taking a stand to stop youth from getting hooked on deadly tobacco products by “Airing out big tobacco’s dirty laundry.” Youth are hanging a clothes line in their school with tobacco statistics and quotes on them.

• Lisbon Reality Check youth will be setting up a display of 70 sneakers to represent the 70 New Yorkers that die each day of smoking.

• The Heuvelton Leos will be participating in a ‘Numbers Campaign” in which they will be posting the number “one” around their community to create awareness that their community has only one tobacco power wall in it.

• The Morristown Reality Check youth will be hosting a Kickball tournament.

• Ogdensburg Reality Check youth will be participating in a cigarette butt clean up and youth rally in their community.

Throughout the year, Reality Check youth take part in a variety of activities to protect kids from tobacco, including working with elected officials to develop policies that reduce youth tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke and educating their peers about tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing practices.

For more information about the Kick Butts Day events, contact Melanie Flack at 323-0020 or mkring@svpc.net.

For information on the national initiative, visit the Kick Butts Day website at kickbuttsday.org.