For Immediate Release

Media Contacts                                                                                       

Brennan C. Smith
Virginia Foundation for Health Youth
bsmith@vfhy.org

Zach Scott
Rev Your Bev / Y Street
zach@ystreet.org

Water Consumption Takes Center Stage Across Virginia During Rev Your Bev Week

Virginia (May 5, 2022) – This week the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s (VFHY) healthy hydration campaign, Rev Your Bev, partnered with early childhood education centers across Virginia to promote water as the number one beverage of choice for children. Rev Your Bev is supported by VFHY’s award-winning, statewide youth-led program, Y Street, in high schools where youth advocated for water consumption as an important measure to prevent obesity during Rev Your Bev Week and throughout the school year. Rev Your Bev Week aimed to promote water and support schools across Virginia to maintain a positive, healthy learning environment by educating students and encouraging increased water promotion and access in schools.

Since 2013, more than 250,000 Virginians have participated in over 4,000 Rev Your Bev events. Each year, Y Street continues its efforts of spreading healthy hydration messages to help individuals make drinking water a habit and serve as a resource for Virginia schools. With Rev Your Bev Week, the campaign made its biggest splash yet with over 35,000 children participating in educational events.

VFHY Executive Director, Marty Kilgore, shared her comments on the campaign’s continued efforts and her excitement regarding the impact of Rev Your Bev Week. “VFHY loves celebrating Rev Your Bev every year with students and educators across Virginia. I am just so proud of Y Street’s youth for their continuous efforts of empowering themselves and their peers to make healthy choices.”

Y Street student at Manor High School, Alexandria Otero, shared “it’s important that we raise awareness about how beneficial drinking water is. More students, parents, and teachers should be informed about how drinking more water can positively affect your overall health.”

For this week of action, the Rev Your Bev campaign and Y Street engaged schools and students from PreK-12 in a variety of activities. This included distributing more than 500 kits across Virginia that contain interactive hydration lesson plans developed by Virginia educators to child care providers, preschool classrooms, family day homes and more to help students adopt and sustain healthy hydration habits early on. Y Street members hosted water-themed events at schools to get youth excited about drinking water.

For more information on Rev Your Bev, please visit www.revyourbev.com.

About the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY)

Established in 1999 by the Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth empowers Virginia’s youth to make healthy choices by reducing and preventing youth tobacco and nicotine use, substance use, and childhood obesity.

VFHY takes a comprehensive approach to prevention work that includes reaching about 50,000 children each year through classroom-based prevention programs in public schools, after-school programs, community centers, day cares and prevention programs across the state. VFHY’s award-winning marketing campaigns deliver prevention messaging to more than 500,000 children annually. In addition, VFHY’s research program provides scientific insight on methods to effectively reduce tobacco use. Since 2002, VFHY has funded 40 large research projects at universities throughout Virginia. For more information, visit www.vfhy.org.

About Y Street

Founded in 2004, Y Street is the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s teen volunteer group for high school students. Y Street youth work on obesity, nutrition, and tobacco and nicotine-use prevention campaigns, such as Share The Air and Rev Your Bev, to help promote a healthier Virginia. In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized Y Street in its guide of initiatives nationwide that demonstrate best practices for tobacco prevention and control. Y Street members have worked on public health issues with top government officials, including the U.S. Surgeon General and Virginia’s Governor, Attorney General, and First Lady. For more information, visit www.ystreet.org