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American Legacy Foundation® Statement: Financial Downturn Precipitates Suspension of Grants Program

2/25/2009

Statement by Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. P.H., President and CEO

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the ongoing financial downturn and its effect on its long-term reserve funds, the American Legacy Foundation’s Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to shift its programs to population-based strategies for maximum impact of the more limited dollars spent.

In accordance with this approach, the Foundation’s competitive grant-making program will be suspended and phased out over the course of the next two fiscal years through 2012. The Foundation will honor its existing commitments and fulfill the current round of Legacy Innovative Grants (LIG) and Priority Populations Phase II Grants.  All grant extensions will be limited to one six-month, no-cost extension. 

This is a sad day for our Foundation, as it forces us to end a program that has meant a great deal to us and to the field.  Our grants programs have made remarkable contributions and progress in youth smoking prevention and adult smoking cessation “on the ground” in communities all across the nation.

 The American Legacy Foundation^® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The Foundation’s programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org.

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Contact: Julia Cartwright, 202-454-5596, jcartwright@americanlegacy.org