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Two young Potomac sisters are hoping to make a difference when it comes to combating teen smoking, and for them, the cause hits close to home.

Herbert Hoover Middle School Students Lexi and Marley Smith lost their beloved grandfather, James Smith, to lung cancer about a year ago. James Smith started smoking when he was 15, and though he quit when he was 30, the nicotine still took a devastating toll on his health in his later years. Now, Marley, 13, and Lexi, 12, are hoping to get the message out to their peers that smoking isn't cool. The two have designed T-shirts and tank tops that boast the message, "Respect yourself, respect the lungs: Live smoke-free" as a part of a B'not Mitzvah project. The girls are selling the T-shirts to their friends, classmates and peers to try to drive the message home that smoking is dangerous. They are asking for a $10 donation that will benefit the advocacy group the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids during Lung Cancer Awareness Month in November.

Nearly a quarter of U.S. high school students smoke, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Also according to the group, nearly 5 million children alive today will die from a smoking-related illness, and nearly 90 percent of adults who smoke tried their first cigarette before the age of 18.

Through the T-shirts, the girls hope to raise awareness about the deadly effects of teen smoking and change their peers' perception of cigarettes.

"I just wanted to prove to people that smoking is not cool and it can really affect your life when you are older," Lexi Smith said. "It's very close to me because my grandfather died of lung cancer."

Marley Smith agreed. "Even though he stopped smoking at 30, it still had a huge impact on his life," she said.

According to their mother Tracey, an order of 100 of the shirts quickly sold out, and the family has ordered another batch to keep up with demand.

To learn more about donating to the girls' cause, email

respectthelungs@gmail.com For more information about the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, visit www.tobaccofreekids.org.

Community events

this weekend at PCC

Go hunting for treasures this weekend at the Potomac Community Center. A flea market and yard sale will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the center, located at 11315 Falls Road in Potomac. Also this Saturday, get rid of all of your unwanted personal documents and protect yourself from identity theft at the same time. A shredding truck will be on hand to securely dispose of documents and receipts from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Paper clips, staples, binder clips, hanging folders and bound folders can all be shredded, but please leave three ring binders at home. A donation of $5 per box is requested. All proceeds will benefit the Potomac Community Center.

For more information about the flea market or the community shred event, call the center at 240-777-6960.

From chef to blogger

A Potomac mom has gone from chef to food blogger. Jennifer Segal, a graduate of the Professional Culinary Training Program at L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, has cooked at L'Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls, Va.; worked as a private chef; and run a cake businesses focusing on birthday cakes for children. Now that she's busy feeding hungry kids, Segal is aiming to share her family-friendly recipes with the community. She recently launched a food blog dubbed Once Upon a Chef. Her recipes include homemade macaroni and cheese and zuchini "noodles" with pesto and pine nuts. She hopes to make her recipes easy and fun for both adults and kids, and her blog features step-by-step instructions and photo tutorials. Readers can visit her blog to read her recipes or sign up to receive recipes via e-mail.

"All my recipes are simple, even when they're ‘gourmet,'" Segal said in a statement. "I stay away from fancy sauces, long lists of ingredients and difficult techniques because cooking at home should be relaxing and fun."

To read Segal's blog, visit www.onceuponachef.com.

Girl Scout lighting the way

Congratulations to Morgan Fleming, 14, who recently was honored with the prestigious Girl Scout Silver Award. Each year, only a small percentage of Girl Scouts receive the award, which requires that scouts prepare project and dedicate a minimum of 40 hours of work towards its planning and execution, along with a number of other pre-requisites. The project requires that scouts demonstrate leadership and impact their community in a positive way. It is the highest honor awarded to Cadette Girl Scouts, who are scouts in seventh through ninth grades.

Morgan, a freshman at Winston Churchill High School, organized a "bridging ceremony" for about 90 Girl Scouts of all ages in and around the Potomac Village community. The ceremony is an event that marks a scout's transition from one level to the next. Morgan developed the event around the theme of "Light your own path," and it featured tea lights for each of the participating girls. Fleming also built a wooden bridge for the event to represent the girls' transition to the next level of scouting, and helped kick off a new year of scouting for nine troops in the area. Congratulations!

This column is for you. Send press releases, news tips and other information to Erin Donaghue by phone to 301-280-3007, by e-mail edonaghue@ gazette.net, by fax to 301-670-7183 or by mail to 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.