LIHUE — The 808 No Vape floor ad was doing exactly what it was meant to accomplish Friday at the Kukui Grove Center near the Jamba Juice and Master Cuts.
Olivia Fitzgerald, visiting from Washington, Shazhlyn Fukushima, and Bralyne Keller were hop scotching on the floor ad while their mothers took a break under the shade of the Master Cuts eave.
“The ad is meant to bring awareness to vaping,” said Valerie Saiki, the community coordinator for Tobacco-Free Kauai, Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii, and the Hawaii Public Health Institute.
“Kids playing on the floor ad pick up the words as they play. When they leave, this becomes topics of discussion with their parents, or other young people. The result is they don’t pick up smoking, or vaping because of the harmful effect it has on young developing bodies.”
Saiki said the floor ad was done through the cooperation of community sponsors, including the Kukui Grove Center and Sign Art. It will be in place on the mall entrance fronting the Jamba Juice and Master Cuts for three months as a trial.
The unveiling was done with community partners like the Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts of Troop 148, Hale Opio, the KQNG Radio Group, and the state’s Department of Health, as well as the management from Kukui Grove Center.
The event was accompanied by a teen health fair with the help of the Kauai High School student government volunteers, and worked to enhance the shopping center’s teen night that opened at the food court area with presentations by the Aloha Dance Studio and Bandwagon music studio.
“Youth can hang out at the mall all day and learn about healthy choices, like saying nope to vape, or knowing it’s not cool to Juul,” Saiki said.
