Standing up against smoking in Hewlett

Hewlett High School students and alumni are acting against smoking and lung disease. Graduating senior Brandon Salazar, 17, and rising seniors Daniel Tkach, 16, and Ryan Weinman, 16, joined the New York chapter of For Future Lungs, the parent organization that seeks to promote the risks associated with smoking and tobacco use for teens and promote events dedicated to discussing the risks of tobacco.

For Future Lungs is based in California and Vietnam. The organization was formed last August and since has worked with 400 schools across the U.S. and in other eight countries, showing presentations from volunteers.

Weinman’s grandfather struggled with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) after smoking for 50 years. Tkach’s uncle and my grandpa were smokers who developed lung cancer. Tkach’s uncle is in remission but after years of battling with cancer, his grandfather died last August.

Salazar, Tkach and Weinman decided they wanted to prevent teenagers from suffering similar illnesses down the line by addressing teen smoking and vaping.

“After we went to parties, we saw young teenagers like 15- and 16-, 17-years-old who smoke,” Tkach said. “We would go to the bathrooms in various schools and smell cotton candy, mint, and strawberries with puff bar packs on the floors. That disgusted us and brought our attention to spread awareness against the use of tobacco and smoking among teens, which they said is prevalent within their local schools and community.

Tkach found For Future Lungs’ website and after reviewing the organization’s information, it was clear to the trio that sharing similar goals it was the right group for them to support.

The boys reached out to the nonprofit about starting a chapter in New York and have been working with the group since March. For Future Lungs co-founders, Natalie Nguyen,19, and Jason Ni, 20, started the organization after seeing a prevalent issue with tobacco in their home country, Vietnam.

“Coming from an Asian background, I saw, both here and back home, a lot of misinformation and not enough education about tobacco, “ Nguyen said. “There are a lot of harmful stereotypes associated with tobacco news, especially in America with E-cigarettes and in Asian countries with traditional cigarettes. We want to get rid of those harmful stereotypes and reinforce that there are a lot of dangers associated with tobacco.”

Weinman, Salazar, and Tkach created the Instagram account ForFutureLungsNY, will be creating a website, and are creating their own merchandise. They will have an event with CTeen, a network for Jewish teens, where they will meet with teenagers and young children across the area.

“We have different activities for kids and young adults and presentations setup,” Weinman said. “We’re going to be teaching them about the different effects of smoking, and how it’s detrimental to their health.”

The group also has plans to reach out to pulmonary doctors and allow them to share the effects of smoking on young adults and plans to reach out to the local government and the County Commissioner of Health to potentially propose legislation relating to smoking prevention.

Although Nguyen is a California resident and will be a junior at Cornell University in the fall, she has a weekly check-in with the group to see how they progress with their plans.

“They tell me all the things they have planned, what I can help with and I bounce ideas on what they can do to grow and get more exposure,” Nguyen said. “They seem to have a lot of really good ideas. They’re very motivated, involved and I’m excited for them.”

To help, go to ForFutureLungs.org/join-the-cause.