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December 2019
e-Newsletter
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Executive Director Report
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We have been given early Christmas gifts with several of our affiliates receiving Lowe’s grants for amazing projects in their communities. The gifts keep coming - with having City of Ocean Springs and City of Richland joining our Mississippi family of affiliates, and oh my -the gifts – just keep coming-with having 37 Keep Mississippi Beautiful affiliates being announced in the President's Circle at the upcoming 2020 Keep America Beautiful National Conference and one more gift that Neeley and I opened early was the announcement of our very first Keep America Beautiful Youth Advisory Council Member Cooper Carrico - can’t wait for all of you to meet Cooper.
As you see we are so richly blessed and we wish a very:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
to all of you and your families.
Sarah
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Mississippi's First
KAB Youth Advisory Council Member
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Cooper Carrico, Magee, Mississippi
You might recognize Cooper from our 2019 Great American Cleanup State-wide kick off with Keep Magee Beautiful, because it was with his vision, the revitalization of McNair Springs park began.
Cooper is a student at Simpson County Academy where he is Junior Class President, a member of the student council, Honor Society and the ACT 25+ Club, as well as a member of the school’s track and tennis teams. He is working to make his community litter free. He has coordinated workdays at McNair Springs park to remove debris and trash from the 15-acre park. He is also working with the Board of Alderman in his hometown of Magee to develop an Adopt-an-Area program where local organizations can adopt an area of town to keep trash free and to maintain any existing flower beds. He is also using his involvement in the Mayor’s Youth Council to develop a program where council members will educate elementary students on the importance of litter prevention and keeping the town litter free.
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Keep America Beautiful/Lowe's Grant Recipients
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$10,000 Keep the Rez Beautiful
Keep the Rez Beautiful and Keep Flora Beautiful are partnering together to promote and teach programs centered around agriculture, horticulture, environment, and forestry at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson, MS.
$1,000 Keep Copiah County Beautiful
In partnership with the Wesson Garden Club, the purpose of the Butterbeans (Youth Garden Club) is to teach them the love and appreciation of gardening and nature. The Lowe’s Grant will allow them to expose the children to different experiences in gardening.
$1,000 Keep Starkville Beautiful
This project will serve to populate community gardens and nearby park spaces with pollinator vegetation and create a fruit forest buffer.
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KMB's December Board of Directors Meeting
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Special thanks to Board Member, Joni McClain for hosting our board meeting at McClain!
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2020 Great American Cleanup State-wide Kick Off
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We are now accepting proposals for the 2019 Great American Cleanup State-Wide Kick off event.
Keep America Beautiful’s signature event, the Great American Cleanup, is the country’s largest community improvement program that reaches more than 20,000 communities and engages more than 5 million volunteers who take action in their community to create positive change and lasting impact.
Each year, KMB hosts a GAC kickoff in one of our affiliate’s communities where we budget $5,000-$7,000 for this event, push media publicity, and a call to action to our volunteers.
In the proposal we ask that you include:
-Proposed date for kickoff event
-Project plans
-Goals and objectives
-Plans for volunteers
-Itemized budget
-Partnerships/sponsorships/donations
-Community impact
-Photos of what is currently there
-Maintenance and sustainability
Proposals are due by Friday, January 10, 2020!
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Keep Harrison County Beautiful's
Plastic Beach Recycler
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After months of planning, a joint project between Harrison County Beautification Commission, Gulfport High School-Career Technical Education, Mississippi Aquarium, and Roy Anderson Contractors Corp. came to fruition on America's Recyclables Day, November 15, 2019, on the Harrison County Sand Beach in Gulfport, MS.
The "sea turtle" will be used as a recycling receptacle for plastics.
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Ocean Springs and Richland
to Become Certified Affiliates
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Keep Mississippi Beautiful had the pleasure of having Keep America Beautiful National Trainer, Sue Smith, in Mississippi for Ocean Springs' and Richland's Community Training.
We look forward to their final certification into the Keep America Beautiful family in early 2020.
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America Recycles Day Event
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America Recycles Day was November 15 - Keep Mississippi Beautiful along with other organizations such as Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi Recycling Coalition, Door 2 Door Recycling, FV Recycling, Mississippi Magnolia Chapter SWANA, and Keep Jackson Beautiful and hosted a recycling collection event at the Mississippi Farmers Market in Jackson, MS.
The collection event was a huge success and we collected the following:
2,540 lbs of Glass (food and beverage containers)
14,390 lbs of E-waste (electronic waste)
500 lbs of Cardboard
200 lbs of Mixed Paper
60 lbs of PET (#1s- water bottles, soda bottles, etc.)
30 lbs of HDPE (#2s-shampoo bottles, milk containers, detergent bottles, etc.)
25 lbs of UBC (aluminum cans)
Keep Oxford/Lafayette County Beautiful also partnered with Door 2 Door Recycling and hosted a glass collection event which collected 4,260 pounds of glass that was kept out of the landfill.
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Conservation Connie
Keep Oxford/Lafayette County Beautiful
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These days Connie Hunter is known as “the recycling lady” by many area school children. She got her own introduction to “reduce, reuse, recycle” growing up in Sebastopol, Mississippi with her mother and grandmother. Connie went on to earn a master’s degree in education and enjoyed a successful teaching career.
Upon her retirement in 2017, she was offered a unique opportunity to combine her teaching skills with that passion for recycling becoming the educator for the City of Oxford Recycling program. In this role Connie has expanded the recycling program’s presence in the Oxford, Lafayette County, and the region beyond.
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KMB Now Accepting 2020 Awards Nominations
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Awards Nominations
are now available on our website, that recognize the best of the best among our network of community-based affiliates, leading corporate partners and individual volunteers across Mississippi who have committed to delivering cleaner, greener and more beautiful communities.
Our awards program is open to everyone in Mississippi, not just Keep Mississippi Beautiful Affiliates, that have demonstrated achievements in beautification, recycling and beautification.
Nominations should recognize accomplishments from January 1 to December 31, 2019.
Nominations are due March 20, 2020 and the awards will be presented at Keep Mississippi Beautiful Awards Luncheon on April 30, 2020 at the Country Club of Jackson.
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Keep America Beautiful 2020 Conference
Registration Now Open
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2020 National Conference Registration is now open for the Keep America Beautiful
National Conference
, taking place Feb. 12-14, 2020, at The Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Hotel Reservations can be made online
HERE.
The National Conference is the premier annual educational and training forum presented for the benefit of the Keep America Beautiful national affiliate network, volunteers, and partner organizations. The Conference gathers together affiliate executive directors, volunteers, government, civic and business leaders to honor and learn from one another as well as seasoned experts in an array of fields.
Register here
!
Mississippi Affiliates that plan on attending the conference please let the KMB office know.
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KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL GRANTS AVAILABLE
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Keep America Beautiful's Community Restoration and Resiliency Fund
Rolling Deadline
Keep America Beautiful's Community Restoration and Resiliency Fund benefits Keep America Beautiful Affiliates that serve communities directly affected by natural and environmental disasters. The fund provides immediate and long-term support for initial and ongoing cleanup efforts and helps rebuild vital public spaces: parks, greenways, community gateways, Main Street/downtown areas, open spaces and more.
WALMART COMMUNITY GRANTS
From $250-$5,000
Through the Community Grant Program, our associates are proud to support the needs of their communities by providing grants to local organizations.
- The 2019 grant cycle deadline is Dec. 31, 2019.
- Application may be submitted at any time during this funding cycle. Please note that applications will only remain pending in the system for 90 days.
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Future Dates:
Jan 10 Great American Cleanup State-wide Kickoff Proposals Due
Jan. 20 Keep America Beautiful Conference registration/reservations deadline
Feb. 12-14 Keep America Beautiful Conference, Memphis, TN
Feb. 26 KMB's Legislative Day, Jackson, MS
Mar. 20 KMB Award Nominations Due
Apr. 30, 2020 KMB Annual Awards Luncheon, Jackson, MS
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