TSET Healthy Living program for Logan County begins

Guthrie – The TSET Healthy Living grant program in Logan County is underway.

The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) Board of Directors recently awarded $289,000 to the Logan County Health Department for the first year of a new five year TSET Healthy Living grant program that took effect July 1.

The five-year community grant program aims to prevent and reduce tobacco use and obesity by working with key public and private sectors within local communities. TSET awarded a Healthy Living grant to the Logan County Health Department to work in partnership with businesses, cities and governments, schools, community institutions and organizations, after school programs, child care centers, and faith based organizations in Logan County.

“This is an exciting time because with the TSET Healthy Living grant, we can create opportunities in Logan County that make the healthy choice the easy choice where we live, work, learn and play,” said Courtney McLemore, Wellness Coordinator “We look forward to working with local business owners and managers, city officials, nonprofits, and school and community leaders to make that happen.”

The TSET Healthy Living program takes an integrated approach to addressing Oklahoma’s leading causes of death- cancer and cardiovascular disease- by preventing and reducing tobacco use and obesity. In May, the TSET Board of Directors approved the award of $14 million for 50 community-based Healthy Living grants that will cover 62 counties.

Prior to this grant, Logan County had a TSET Physical Activity and Nutrition grant for 5 years which assisted in the creation of community gardens throughout the county, updated school wellness policies, delving deeper into safer streets for all users of all transportation systems, as well as assisting multiple agencies to become tobacco free.

The Healthy Living program builds on lessons learned from more than a decade of TSET community-based grants.The new program was designed with the best research available, previous evaluations results, input from existing grantees, partner organizations, and nationally recognized experts.

“Over the past decade, we have seen measurable results from the work of community grantees, as coalitions of passionate individuals and organizations have worked together to make a difference for today’s youth and future generations of Oklahomans,” said TSET Executive Director Tracey Strader. “Thanks to these and other efforts at the local and state levels, youth smoking has been cut in half, adult smoking is at an all-time low and obesity in our state has leveled off.”

TSET is launching the Healthy Living community grant program as it celebrates the 15th anniversary of a voter-approved state question in 2000 that created the endowment trust. Funded by a portion of the tobacco industry’s payment to the state as part of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, the endowment trust is a long term strategy to improve health. Only the earnings from the endowment are used to fund grants and programs.

Each year, the tobacco industry makes a settlement payment to Oklahoma and 45 other states as part of the national Master Settlement Agreement. Settlement payments will continue as long as cigarettes are sold nationally. Court documents obtained during state lawsuits against the industry showed that tobacco companies specifically marketed their product to youth under 18, in hopes of getting “replacement smokers”

About the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust

The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) serves as a partner and bridge builder for organizations working towards shaping a healthier future for all Oklahomans. TSET provides leadership at the intersections of health by working with local partners and initiatives across the state, by cultivating innovative and life-changing research, and by working across public and private sectors to develop, support, implement and evaluate creative strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities to improve the public’s health.

For more information about becoming involved in the Logan County Healthy Living Program grant and making a difference where we live, work, and play please contact Courtney McLemore, Wellness Coordinator for the Logan County Health Department, at 405-282-3485 or at courtneyt@health.ok.gov.