A total of $26,450 in funding has been given to local campaigns providing awareness on tobacco.
The 2018 Lloydminster Tobacco Reduction Grant distributes money collected from tobacco retailers through their business licence fees. Mayor Gerald Aalbers says the program is not a tax grab on the retailers.
“It’s almost a tough one because the retailers are actually cutting down on their business, but from the perspective of the health of the community and the residents, it’s a great program. I believe it will help to lessen smoking, help stop young people from starting to smoke and lead to better health.”
Four application were received with a total of $53,700 in funding requests, however, based on criteria only three applications were successful. Lloydminster and Area Drug Strategy were given $9,000 for their program, A Sign of Change that will update signage in schools, parks and playgrounds. $6,450 was awarded to the Sexual Assualt and Information Centre for their program focusing on coping with addictions.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says each group got a lesser amount than they asked and will have to adjust their programming based on the funds given.
“It’s important to realize that there was a greater ask than there was for money, but we tried to allocate money based on the programming needs. The organizations will be able to deliver a program for the money they received.”
The Interval Home Society rounded out the organizations who received money with $11,000 being given to their Luving My Lungs awareness campaign.