Naples, FL - The Tobacco Free Collier Partnership would like to congratulate Christopher Epperson (4^th grader) and Kate Osorio (7^th grader), this year’s winners of the 2016 Tobacco Free Summer Art Contest. This contest gave campers an opportunity to showcase their artistic skills in a way that features the harmful effects associated with tobacco use on your body and the environment.

Each year two topics are chosen for separate age groups. This year’s topics were “Heroes Fighting Against Tobacco” for kindergarten through fifth grade and “How Tobacco Affects our Environment” for sixth through eighth grade. In order to help the participants better understand the topics, partnership members visited each participating summer camp to give a presentation defining the different ways tobacco can affect their lives and how they could portray these effects in a creative and unique drawing relating to the topics.

Christopher Epperson, from Eagle Lakes Community Park, won in the elementary school category with his drawing of a cityscape featuring Spiderman capturing an evil cigarette using his webs. On the drawing he wrote, “Smoking is a web you can’t escape from.” Kate, also from Eagle Lakes Community Park, won in the middle school category with a drawing depicting a fire from a lit cigarette. She also included planet Earth with cigarettes covering it and a stained hand holding a cigarette above the planet.

This year, eleven summer camps around Collier County participated, resulting in over 300 entries! Now in its third year, the art contest represents a fun chance for local kids to show off their creative side with a positive and healthy message. A variety of the art work submitted by the participants will be displayed at the South Collier Regional Library throughout the month of August.

If you have any questions or would be interested in participating in the Tobacco Free Art Contest next summer, please contact Robert Ostbye at 239-252-6852.

Summer Camps that Participated
Eagle Lakes Community Park
North Collier Regional Park
Golden Gate Community Center
North Naples Middle School
Immokalee South Park
Immokalee Community Park
River Park Community Center
The Boys and Girls Club
Vineyards Community Park
East Naples Community Park
Veterans Community Park

Elementary School Winners
1st Place: Christopher Epperson - Eagle Lakes Community Park
2nd Place: Gaela Jackson - North Collier Regional Park
3rd Place: Andrew Kent - Vineyards Community Park

Middle School Winners
1st Place: Kate Osorio - Eagle Lakes Community Park
2nd Place: Ella Acker - North Naples Middle School
3rd Place: Margarita Guadian - Immokalee Community Park

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