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Contact: Brian Sansoni, 202-662-2517 (office) / 202-680-9327 (mobile) or via email at bsansoni@cleaninginstitute.org

Minnesota Students Honored for Fight Against "Handwashing Horrors"

• Litchfield High School Students and Members of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Earn National Award
• FCCLA Chapter Receives $5,000 Cash Award
• Healthy Schools, Healthy People: It’s a SNAP Program Recognizes Student Led Hand Hygiene Education Campaigns

2013 Awards Presentation (L to R) Martha Chapin (ACI), Kalley Spreiter, John Hanlin (Ecolab), Ali McGraw, Abby Roediger, Katie McGraw, Wendy Ambrose (MN State FCCLA). Click image to view larger.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 24, 2013 – They’re not afraid of germs in Litchfield, Minnesota – they now know just to ‘wash them away.’

Three Litchfield High School students created a multi-media hygiene education campaign and received national honors from the Healthy Schools, Healthy People, It’s a SNAP Program.

SNAP – the School Network for Absenteeism Prevention – is a joint initiative of the American Cleaning Institute® (ACI) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Students Ali McGraw, Kalley Spreiter and Abby Roediger – all sophomores at Litchfield High School – belong to the school’s chapter of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).

The girls’ "Germs don't scare us - we wash them away!" project earned their FCCLA chapter $5,000 from several supporting ACI member companies: Arylessence, Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Company, Ecolab, Inc., GOJO Industries, Inc. and Henkel Consumer Goods Inc. Colgate-Palmolive Company, Ecolab Inc., GOJO Industries, Inc., Henkel Consumer Goods Inc. and Water Journey Ltd. are also sending hand cleaning products to the Litchfield community to continue the promotion of clean hands at school.

As a part of their hand hygiene campaign, Abby, Ali and Kalley:

• Collaborated with the Meeker County Public Health and the Minnesota State Public Health Department to bring educational information on germs to their school.
• Created hand hygiene education projects for 3rd and 5th graders, including surveys, science experiments and showing germ transfer with a black light.
• Sponsored a handwashing video competition in the high school, which landed the chapter the top award, "Handwashing Horrors: Revenge of the Germ."
• Used social media to send weekly messages about handwashing statistics and procedures.

"The handwashing project was an educational experience in promoting a healthier school and community. I never realized the impacts, to myself and others, of not washing my hands correctly," said Litchfield FCCLA Chapter member Kalley Spreiter.

"These students deserve our top award. The FCCLA members are great role models for their peers, not just at Litchfield High School, but in schools across the country," said Nancy Bock, ACI’s Senior Vice President of Education. "Their accomplishments in our national awards program show that when they graduate and continue their lives into adulthood, they can be successful in any endeavor."

As a part of their honor from the Healthy Schools, Healthy People program, the Minnesota students will receive all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C.

For information on how your school can participate in the SNAP program, visit www.itsasnap.org.

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The American Cleaning Institute® (ACI) is the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Products Industry® and represents the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products market. ACI members include the formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and oleochemical producers. ACI (www.cleaninginstitute.org) and its members are dedicated to improving health and the quality of life through sustainable cleaning products and practices.