Breanna Cutright was getting her nails painted purple for junior prom when the email arrived on her phone with bad news. Raze, an anti-tobacco program focused on young people across West Virginia, was shutting down because of federal funding cuts.
“I was trying not to cry,” said Cutright, now an 18-year-old high school senior in the historic coal mining town of Clarksburg, W.Va. She felt panicked — Raze had opened up her world ever since she first got involved in middle school, giving her access to scholarship opportunities, trips to the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston each fall to bond with other young people involved with Raze, and even the chance to meet with senators on Capitol Hill to talk about tobacco use in schools. Her first thought, she said, was: “What am I going to do from here on out?”
