Project SUPPORT (Supporting Under-served Populations through Produce Prescription, Opportunities for Recreation, and Tobacco Control) is a groundbreaking cross-cultural initiative led by Asian Media Access (AMA) in collaboration with Multi-Cultural Community Alliance (MCCA) partners, including the KaRen Football Association, TTL Foundation, and the Vietnamese Community of Minnesota. This comprehensive program addresses the urgent need to improve health outcomes and reduce tobacco-related disparities among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in North Minneapolis and Midway St. Paul—two of Minnesota’s most diverse yet economically challenged neighborhoods.
Building on insights from Year 1, our Year 2 action plan centers on the “We Win the Game by Choosing Sports, Not Smoking” campaign, leveraging the universal appeal of sports while honoring the distinct cultural values of our target communities. Sports serve as a powerful cultural bridge, fostering shared values of achievement, teamwork, and physical excellence across KaRen, Hmong, Vietnamese, Oromo, Somali, and African American communities – transcending linguistic and cultural barriers while maintaining deep authenticity.
Our sports-centered approach addresses a critical gap identified in our Year 1 analysis: the need for positive, aspirational messaging that offers youth compelling alternatives to tobacco use – rather than solely emphasizing its harms. By framing athletic achievement as incompatible with tobacco, we create a culturally resonant narrative that aligns with youth identity, family values, and community pride. This strategy is particularly impactful given that 84.6% of tobacco-using youth in these communities consume flavored products.
Key Highlights of the Campaign:
• Sports-Centered Approach – “We Win the Game:” Targets youth athletes from KaRen, Hmong, Oromo, Somali, and African American communities.
• Cultural Authenticity: Content delivered in native languages with culturally specific messaging.
• Peer-to-Peer Influence: Features local sports heroes and youth ambassadors as role models.
• Data-Driven Strategy: Informed by Year 1 findings on flavored tobacco use among youth.
• Comprehensive Social Media Campaign: Uses culturally relevant hashtags and multimedia content.
We plan to host a three-month social media campaign “We Win the Game by Choosing Sports, Not Smoking” (June–August 2025), especially engages with Oromo, KaRen, and Vietnamese communities in Minnesota through culturally tailored content, youth leadership, and policy advocacy. The campaign unfolds in three phases: June focuses on foundation-building, launching with policy education, youth ambassador spotlights, and family engagement while celebrating cultural heritage. July amplifies community engagement, sharing assessment data, integrating tobacco-free messaging into sports events, and training advocates. August shifts to sustainability, refining messages based on feedback, launching bilingual content, and unveiling community road maps for long-term action.
Platforms like Facebook, podcasts, and video content deliver trilingual messaging, athlete testimonials, and policy explainers. Key strategies include daily posts, live Q&As, and interactive events, with success measured through engagement metrics, community feedback, and pre/post-campaign surveys. By blending sports culture with health advocacy, our campaign empowers communities to resist tobacco industry targeting while fostering lasting youth and family leadership in tobacco control advocacy. For more information: 612-37607715 and chou.xiong@amamedia.org
