Never Quit Beach Fest

Jacksonville Beach, Florida

On Saturday, June 5th, 2010, Tobacco-Free Jacksonville Coalition and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) joined forces with a wonderful family in an effort to educate the public on what is going on in tobacco through education.

The Petroni Family lost their beloved father in December, 2009, due to a massive brain bleed. Gerri Petroni was always pushing his family to be active and live a healthy lifestyle - free of dangerous habits like tobacco. When his father's battle was over, Erik Petroni wanted to continue something great in his father's name and in his words: "Never quit. Never."

The Tobacco Prevention Program Team contacted Erik about partnering with TFJC and SWAT and they were so excited to have us on board. We set up shop around 7am at Jax Beach and had our chemicals and lungs out for all to view. What a fabulous experience it was to be able to speak with young and old, smokers and non-smokers, about the dangers of tobacco use and how manipulative the industry is.

Many were shocked to hear that 1 in 2 adult smokers will die from a smoking related illness, and even more were amazed at the industry's tactics to target youth with their candy flavored tobacco products. We gained much support from passers-by and look forward to what's to come in the future with our initiative of banning the sale of candy flavored tobacco in Duval County.