The New Freedom Lions Club hosted an anti-vaping meeting on October 19 at the New Freedom Community Center to educate students and parents on the effects and dangers of vaping.

“The Lions club tries to sponsor a community education/awareness event each year,” said District Judge Lindy Sweeny. 

The doors to the event opened at 6:00 p.m. and the panel spoke from 6:30 to 8:30. There was no sign up or cost to attend.

Upon arriving Sweeny handed attendees an index card, program outline, and a pen. The index card and pen were designated to be used to write down any questions that could be turned into the panel to be answered. 

Around the edge of the meeting room there were multiple stands set up from the “American Lung Association” and “True North Wellness”. Before or after the program guests were able to walk around and get more information on how to stop vaping and counseling opportunities. 

The Panel was made up of eight individuals with a variety of expertise. 

The first to present was Certified tobacco treatment specialist Adam Bennet. He delivered a PowerPoint presentation which focused on what vaping is, what vapes look like, and the ways vaping companies target teens through a variety of flavors. 

Next to speak were a variety of experts in the field, such as respiratory therapist/tobacco treatment specialist Pam Miller, prevention program specialist and Narcan coordinator for York Sarah Lehman, and certified tobacco treatment specialist Leah Neiderer. 

Other speakers were retired science teacher Matthew Null, and officers William Hanson and Brian Dalkiewicz. 

Finally, the school resource officer Detective Richard Blais spoke about the vaping he is seeing at schools and how parents can be monitoring and educating at home. 

Blais said, “Parents are the first step to stopping addiction habits.” 

They covered topics such as: “What is vaping?”, “Vape Basics”, “Health Risks of Vaping”, “Treatment and Counseling”, “The Wallet Impact”, and “What the SRO officers are seeing”. 

Sweeny said, “The event is open to the public, but it is geared towards students/ kids from fourth grade through high school and their responsible adult/guardian.” 

In an effort to make the event well-known to the community, the Lion’s club advertised in various ways, such as on social media, on school district webpages, on fliers at local businesses and churches, and a wide variety of other community outreach programs.

Other community events the Lion’s Club has hosted in the past were on the heroin/opioid epidemic and on human trafficking. 

Members of the Lion’s Club discuss possible topics, and then decide together with Sweeny’s input.