“My mission is to make a difference in the world we live in.”

Patrick Reynolds worked for three decades to educate children not to smoke and helped thousands globally to quit tobacco through his group’s website and media advocacy. Former US Surgeon General Koop commented, “Patrick Reynolds is one of the nation’s most influential advocates of a smokefree America. His testimony is invaluable to our society.” In 2015 the White House and President Obama presented Patrick with the Lifetime Achievement Award . He’s a grandson of tobacco company founder RJ Reynolds, yet watched his father and oldest brother die from cigarette-induced emphysema and lung cancer. Concerned about the mounting health evidence, in 1986 he made the decision to speak out publicly in Congress against the industry his family helped build. Mr. Reynolds serves as Executive Director of the Foundation for a Smokefree America , a nonprofit group he founded in 1989. Every December he also runs Be An Elf, a Christmas charity he founded for needy children.