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Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

Overheard on Text: When the Stereotypes Are True

Overheard on Text: When the Stereotypes Are True

As colleagues from different generations (x and millennial), Marci Alboher and Duncan Magidson have been leading talks and workshops sharing their insights about working across generations. As they plan, they usually text furiously, sharing ideas and reflections....

Meet Our Growing Roster of Champions!

Meet Our Growing Roster of Champions!

We’re proud to introduce you to a group of esteemed thought leaders, changemakers, entrepreneurs, researchers and organizers who are partnering with us to make cogeneration a powerful force in American life. These 11 CoGen Impact Fellows are thinking up (and lifting...

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Joe Garagiola

National Spit Tobacco Education Program
Purpose Prize Fellow 2006

Educating the baseball family and the public about the dangers of smokeless tobacco

Half a century ago, Joe Garagiola played baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals and witnessed firsthand the danger of “spit” tobacco use. Since then, the anti-tobacco movement has grown in strength, yet the focus has largely been on cigarettes. In the mid-90s, Garagiola became chair of the National Spit Tobacco Education Program and decided to use professional baseball players to educate kids and their parents on the dangers of chewing tobacco. His goal was to help ballplayers quit their use of spit tobacco, and then enlist them, their trainers, their managers, and broadcast media to send the message that the stimulant has no place in baseball, athletics, or a healthy lifestyle. Garagiola’s work is paying off, as several star players with the power of influence have become vocal advocates of the program, and tobacco use among American youth and adults continues to drop at a significant rate. The recent first time decline in U.S. cancer deaths has been attributed in large part to the decline in tobacco use and exposure.