Nov. 20--Today's Great American Smokeout marks the 33rd year of helping smokers quit, even if its just for a day.
Since its inception, the event has spurred other local organizations -- like Pottsville's Clinical Outcomes Group Inc. and Schuylkill County Tobacco-free Youth Coalition -- to pick up the anti-smoking torch.
"It's branched out a lot. There are so many other people now that do their own things for the smokeout. It's really blossomed," Chris Reichert, American Cancer Society spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon.
The smokeout began in 1976, urging longtime smokers to give it up for the day, in hopes that first smoke-free day will lead to many others. The cancer society, the event's primary sponsor, estimates 44 percent of smoking Americans -- about 45 million people -- have attempted to quit for the day, according to a cancer society press release issued Monday.
Recently, local groups have intensified efforts.
One hundred five students from Schuylkill and Berks counties came together at Minersville Area High School last week for the 11th annual Teens Against Tobacco Conference.
Clinical Outcomes has hosted "Quit and Win" workshops throughout the county, offering professional counseling and advice to those trying to kick the habit.
Local initiative has helped draw more attention to the event.
"It's not just one nationally-recognized thing anymore," Reichert said.
Reichert said Clinical Outcomes and the tobacco-free youth coalition have been active local partners in anti-smoking campaigns.
Local involvement, she said, has been a vital part of the smokeout's success.
For more information, visit the American Cancer Society Web site at www.cancer.org.
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