Today's Hero of the Week is 10-year-old Hannah Whatley-Blaine, from St. Louis, Missouri, and she's the founder of an educational program called "K.A.T.S.," with a "K," which stands for Kids Against Teenage Smoking.

Says Hannah:

I believe that kids can help one another to lower the number of teenage smokers, and even one day see tobacco-free future generations! I have personal experience with the impact smoking has on the smoker and the smoker's family. 

My great-grandma, great-grandpa, and grandma all died from lung cancer caused by smoking.  Each of them started smoking when they were between 11 and 14 years old. These are family members I'll only ever know through the stories my family tells me because they all died younger than they should have. My mom says that they didn't know how dangerous smoking was back then, and that smoking was considered "cool".  Now, we know how deadly smoking is, but tobacco companies still market to kids - trying to make them the next generation of smokers.

I want kids to know that NOT smoking is really what's cool.  I want to help kids become more aware of smoking and the damage that the smoker causes not just to themselves, but to the people around them.