The Health Education Resource Center received $22,500 worth of grants last semester.

A $15,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health is slated to go to programs about tobacco use and quitting smoking.

The second grant of $7,500, from the Illinois Higher Education Center, will go toward alcohol and drug education programs.

HERC plans to develop programs for the spring and future semesters with the influx of money.

“We stay quite busy, which we are very thrilled about,” said Rachel Fisher, health communications and marketing specialist.

She said with the $15,000, HERC plans to expand its support groups that exist for students who have quit smoking.

HERC offers free one-on-one cessation class for students who quit smoking but is looking to develop more support groups with the grant.

Fisher said HERC is offering group sessions for students interested in quitting smoking.

Informational meetings about the group sessions are being held early January.

She added that the center is looking at starting a “Nicotine Anonymous” group in conjunction with the Charleston community.

The grant money will also go to a 5K walk/run for National Kick Butts Day in spring, Fisher said.

“We are really looking at all the different aspects of (the programs),” she said. “We want to be there to assist students at all levels.”

The $7,500 grant will go to a first-year health guide for incoming students and a student leader guide about alcohol and other drugs.

Fisher said the first-year health guide would be distributed to all incoming students starting in the Fall 2008 semester.

She said the guide will address issues ranging from responsible drinking to choosing to not drink at all.

But it will also covers topics such as how to decorate a residence hall.

“(The guide describes) basic things that help us encompass what a healthy person should look like and how we can help with that,” Fisher said.

She said HERC surveys about 3,000 students each spring to gain understanding of health trends of students.

“This grant will allow us to get better connection with the students to ensure we have a higher completion rate of (the survey), which will allow us to focus our programming on the needs of the students,” Fisher said.

The student leader guide will help develop peer-to-peer support, she said.

HERC has received grant funding since 2004.

“We are very pleased,” Fisher said. “What we are trying to get done, these funds will work perfectly for us.”

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7945 or at sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.