December 2025 Newsletter

Photo Credit: “Potter’s Mill”, Scott Hoag from Dewitt, 2nd Place Hometown Pride

Does your community have an enhancement project in mind?

The Paint Iowa Beautiful grant program offers free paint to grant recipients to help communities update and maintain public spaces, from gathering places to everyday landmarks.

In partnership with Diamond Vogel, the program has helped towns across Iowa complete meaningful, community-led projects for more than 22 years.

The 2026 grant application is now open for nonprofit, public, and private groups. Projects that engage volunteers or youth are encouraged.

Applications are due February 12, 2026.

Apply for a Paint Iowa Beautiful Grant!

Close the year with an
investment in Iowa's communities!

As the year ends, we invite you to reflect on the places that bring Iowans together. Our main streets, parks, trails, and public spaces are essential to civic life and community connection. Through volunteer-driven enhancement programs, Keep Iowa Beautiful works alongside communities to care for these shared spaces and strengthen hometown pride across the state.

Your year-end gift helps empower Iowans to create vibrant communities by supporting local leadership, resident engagement, and hands-on projects that improve public spaces. Together, communities across Iowa are painting, planting, restoring, and maintaining the places that contribute to quality of life and civic pride.

This work reflects our vision of a thriving Iowa supported by strong local leadership, beautiful public spaces, and engaged residents. When you support Keep Iowa Beautiful, you are investing in practical solutions that help communities work together to care for the places they call home.

Keep Iowa Beautiful.

It is more than our name. It is a shared commitment to Iowa’s communities and future.

Make Your Year-End Gift Today

Ready to Join Hometown Pride?

Applications are now open for the next round of Hometown Pride communities. Keep Iowa Beautiful’s Hometown Pride program uses a research-based approach and hands-on coaching to help Iowans transform their towns. So far, 118 Iowa communities have taken part.

Interested communities can submit a statement of interest on the Keep Iowa Beautiful website by February 6, 2026. Before you begin, contact Lorin Ditzler at lditzler@keepiowabeautiful.com to see if Hometown Pride is a good fit and to learn more about the process.

Hometown Pride Application Information

#HometownPride Highlights

New Community Signage in Earlville

Earlville Hometown Pride, in partnership with the Earlville Community Club, recently completed a year-long signage project that is already making a visible impact throughout the community.

New banners now line the light poles along Earlville’s main street, and two large welcome signs have been installed at the north end of town. The designs reflect a patriotic theme and celebrate Earlville’s beloved fireworks tradition.

The project was made possible through a grant from the Dyersville Area Community Foundation and the generous support of 18 local sponsors.

Gilmore City Hometown Pride

The Gilmore City Hometown Pride committee recently completed construction of a new shelter house in Sunset Park, creating an inviting new space for community gatherings and outdoor activities.

This improvement was made possible through generous community donations and support from a High Impact County Foundation Grant.

Holiday Hometown Pride

Delaware Hometown Pride committee members brought seasonal cheer to the community with a Holiday Decorating Day that invited residents to share lights and decorations for public spaces. Volunteers decorated the pavilion just in time for the community tree lighting, hot cocoa, and children’s activities at City Hall.

Grant funds were also used to add a small but festive Christmas tree, creating a welcoming focal point for the celebration. Despite cold temperatures and recent snowfall, the event drew a strong turnout and highlighted the spirit of connection and pride that continues to bring the community together.

Hometown Pride Cityscape Article

The December 2025 issue of Cityscape, published by the Iowa League of Cities, features the Hometown Pride program and the work happening in communities statewide.

Click here to read the article.

Learn more about Hometown Pride Communities

Supporting Students who Give Back

Keep Iowa Beautiful is now accepting applications for its 2026 scholarships, awarding three $1,000 scholarships to graduating Iowa students enrolling in an Iowa college or university. Students with a strong record of volunteer service and community leadership are encouraged to apply.

Applications are due January 31, 2026.

Visit the Keep Iowa Beautiful Scholarship page for details.

Happy Holidays

NEW Mailing Address & Phone Number

Keep Iowa Beautiful

PO Box 1056

Johnston, IA 50131

www.keepiowabeautiful.com