ACADIANA, La. — Local healthcare organizations are teaming up to spread awareness about opioid overdoses and vaping through a PSA contest for local teens.
The Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Public Health, Acadiana Companies, Ochsner Lafayette General, Our Lady of Lourdes and the RescYOU Group are all partnering together to host a Public Service Announcement contest.
The goal of this contest is to educate the youth of Acadiana on the dangers of vaping and opioids.
"As many people are aware, we're seeing a big increase across the country in people dying from overdoses led by the drug Fentanyl, and we're also seeing an increase in young people vaping," said Dr. Tina Stefanski, Regional Medical Director for Region 4 Office of Public Health. "We really hope that teenagers take the opportunity to educate themselves and make videos that can help then to educate their peers and adults in our community."
In order to compete in the contest, you must be between the ages of 11 and 18 and must live in Acadiana, which includes Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes.
There are two categories to submit entries into: "The Dangers of Vaping" and "The Threat of Opioid Addiction and Overdose."
You can enter into the contest as an individual or as a team for one or both categories.
And here is where we get your teen's attention: Prizes!
Our Lady of Lourdes and The RescYOU Group will award prizes to the top three entries in each category for both individual entries and team entries.
"The Dangers of Vaping" prizes:
- Group entries
- First place: $500
- Second place: $300
- Third place: $150
- Individual entries
- First place: Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 - 16" - Intel Core i5 - 1335U - 16 GB RAM - 512G
- Second place: Apple 10.2-inch iPad Wi-Fi - 9th generation - tablet - 64 GB - 10.2"
- Third place: Apple AirPods with Charging Case 2nd generation - true wireless earphones
"The Threat of Opioid Addiction and Overdose" prizes:
Group entries
- First place: $500
- Second place: $300
- Third place: $150
Individual entries
- First place: Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 - 16" - Intel Core i5 - 1335U - 16 GB RAM - 512G
- Second place: Apple 10.2-inch iPad Wi-Fi - 9th generation - tablet - 64 GB - 10.2"
- Third place: Apple AirPods with Charging Case 2nd generation - true wireless earphones
Judging will be based on creativity, impact, message clarity and engagement.
Each PSA must be between 45 and 60 seconds in length and 25 MB or less in size. Along with your video entry, you must include an Entry Form, a PSA Contest Release Form and a Photo Release Form. All of these forms, as well as the submission portal and the official contest rules, are available on the submission site.
The deadline to submit PSAs is Nov. 30, leaving you with just enough time to participate.
"I'm really hoping that over the Thanksgiving holidays kids might, either individually or as a group, do some research and come up with some ideas for a video and film the video and submit because, again, we know that it's going to, hopefully, have a two-fold effect: one's that they'll be educating themselves as they do their research, and then, hopefully, we'll end up with some really great products that we can use that'll be aired as Public Service Announcements throughout our community over the coming months," Dr. Stefanski said.
