Bobbie Harrison’s memory lives on through the actions of her co-workers at the UUP Brooklyn HSC Chapter.

Over the summer, Brooklyn HSCers ran their weekly “Be a Winner–Be a Quitter!” smoking cessation program aimed at getting smokers to cut the nicotine habit and end their dependence on cigarettes.

The three-hour sessions, held on Wednesday afternoons from June through August at the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, were a solid success. Dozens of smokers stopped by to pick up information and to get free nicotine patches and nicotine gum to help them stop smoking. Participants were also entered into a drawing for a flat-screen television donated by MetLife.

“The response has been very positive,” said UUP statewide Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud, the Brooklyn HSC Chapter president. “We opened this up to the public. We did mailings to the Brooklyn community and also contacted people on campus to take part in the program.

“Most of the people who participated were the usual smokers trying to quit, but there is much more urgency now,” she continued. “People are really making an effort to quit.”

The clinics were held in remembrance of Bobbie, Brooklyn HSC Chapter’s office manager who passed away in May 2008 due to burns sustained in a fire started by a cigarette ember. She was hired by UUP as a chapter assistant in 1997.

Over the years, she rose through the ranks to take on the responsibilities of chapter office manager. Bobbie did her job with enthusiasm and dedication, and ably served as a valued UUP staffer and member of the Communications Workers of America Local 1141—UUP’s staff union—for 12 years.

More than 2,000 people were contacted to take part in the clinics, the second phase of the chapter’s “Take One Step for Bobbie” smoking cessation campaign. The program was launched last year to remember Bobbie and to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking and fire prevention and safety.

It’s also another example of how UUP is caring for the communities where its chapters are located. At the statewide level, UUP took up collections for old eyeglasses and canned food during Delegate Assemblies in 2008 and 2009. Hundreds of  eyeglasses were donated to the Lions Club International and several boxes of food were sent to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

— Michael Lisi