Boise Rec Fest 2011

This Saturday I helped to man the Project Filter booth at the Boise Rec Fest. What a great event, the weather was amazing and there were a lot of people out and about enjoying the sun shine. I’ll have to say , I wondered how effective Project Filter would be at this event since we try to target events where people would most likely use tobacco products but as the morning went on it all began to make sense.
The Boise Rec fest tends to draw a more healthy conscious crowd but the cool thing that I experienced while manning the booth was chatting with the people who came up to talk about their experiences with quitting tobacco. Several people said that they had used the programs that Project Filter offer and that they were really glad to have had the free product support. Most everyone talks about how hard it is to quit but once they finally get through it, they say that they are so glad that they did.

I talked to one person that said he has always been an avid runner, even when he was a smoker. He said that he would go for a run and the first thing he would do when he was done, is smoke a cigarette. Oh, and cough so hard that he thought his lungs going to come right out of his throat. He said it wasn’t enjoyable at all and it made him want to quit running. Well fortunately instead of quitting running he quit smoking. He raved about how much better he feels and how much more he enjoys his runs. He said he can run farther and with much more ease than ever before. It’s a proven fact that kicking the habit will make you perform better, it has immediate health benefits, your circulation will improve and your lungs will start to repair the damage, positive effects for the body will start within the first twenty four hours.

I also talked to several people who didn’t use tobacco but knew someone who did and wanted them to quit. They took information about the program and wanted to use it to encourage the people that they care about in their lives, to quit. I thought that was really cool, to care enough about someone to want to help them quit and want to see them improve their quality of life. I had one young man tell me that smoking killed his grandma and he was glad that we were there because he didn’t want anyone else have to go through what he did. He said that he will never use tobacco and I told him that was a great decision.

It was a great day, I heard some really good genuine stories about how Project Filter has helped people quit and how much better people feel once they have. That’s the payoff, I have heard it many times and it makes me feel awesome to be a part of building a healthier community and such an outstanding program….. Thank You Project Filter!