Action

APPEAL supports and advocates for policies and programs that work toward social justice and promote a tobacco-free, healthy and active Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. Below is a brief description of both types of efforts and what APPEAL has done to support and sustain this work.

Please take some time to read through the various efforts listed within this Take Action section, and find a way to get involved! Everyone can make a difference!

APPEAL’s Policy Efforts

APPEAL believes policy change is the most impactful, sustainable, and cost effective strategy for eliminating health disparities in AA and NH/PI communities. APPEAL’s Policy Change Model strives toward creating policy or systems change on four levels, ranging from the grass roots community level to mainstream anti-tobacco efforts, legislative policymaking, and corporate accountability and social responsibility.

Additionally, APPEAL also has a repository of background information on various Policy Issues which affect our communities.

APPEAL’s Program Efforts

In order to achieve the change we seek in our communities, APPEAL regards leadership development as an integral step to success. Through the APPEAL Leadership Program, AA and NH/PI health advocates have the opportunity to strengthen their knowledge and skills in tobacco control, food and active living policy, cultural competency, collaboration, facilitation, and advocacy. For 15 years, APPEAL, together with our partners and fellow AA and NH/PI health advocates have taken action, leading our local communities in making tremendous strides toward tobacco-free communities throughout the mainland, as well as the Pacific Islands.

Several past successes include:

  • APPEAL Network Members organizing letter-writing campaigns to RJ Reynolds denouncing the use of the name “Kaua’i Kolada” to market pineapple and coconut flavored cigarettes, and pressuring the company to pull the product from shelves in Hawai’i
  • APPEAL Leadership Fellows working with Asian restaurant owners to promote smoke-free establishments and advocating to ban smoking in nearly all public places throughout Multnomah County in Oregon
  • APPEAL Partners in Guam working to mobilize and educate their community about the importance of increasing tobacco tax rates and using the revenue for tobacco control and cancer prevention efforts.

HOW YOU CAN HELP!

You can be a part of our efforts too! To get involved in our current advocacy and policy initiatives and become a part of the movement for a healthy future for AA and NH/PI communities, please check out the following links: