Photo Credit: Shelley Gerjets, Iowa Landscapes Honorable Mention
March 2022 Newsletter
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Winners Announced for 2022 Keep Iowa Beautiful Awards |
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The Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors announced the following award winners for 2022. Governor Kim Reynolds will present the awards at a ceremony at the State Capitol on Thursday, March 31. The Governor will also be signing a proclamation kicking off April as Keep Iowa Beautiful month.
“The Keep Iowa Beautiful award program is designed to recognize exceptional people and organizations that have gone the extra mile to help build stronger Iowa communities,” said Reo Menning, Chair of the KIB Board of Directors. “A more attractive community improves the economic vitality and cultural climate where we live, work and raise a family.”
Keep Iowa Beautiful Corporation Award:
RAYGUN for partnering with Keep Iowa Beautiful on the Karras Bike Cart trash removal project for bike trails across Iowa.
Keep Iowa Beautiful Organization Award:
IOWA BICYCLE COALITION for promoting safe and enjoyable bicycling as an economic benefit and tourism attraction making communities better places to live.
Keep Iowa Beautiful Robert D. Ray Award of Excellence:
COMMUNITY OF BELLEVUE for the remarkable partnerships and projects that enhanced the quality of life in the community.
Keep Iowa Beautiful Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award:
PATTI HARDIN, MAYOR OF DELMAR for being an outstanding leader that has inspired many in making Delmar a great community to live.
Congratulations to all of the 2022 Keep Iowa Beautiful Award Winners!
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Keep Iowa Beautiful 2022 Scholarship Awardees
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Three high school seniors are receiving Keep Iowa Beautiful $1,000 scholarships toward their studies at an Iowa college or university. Governor Kim Reynolds will make the presentations at ceremonies at the State Capitol on Thursday, March 31.
“Keep Iowa Beautiful scholarships are awarded to graduating high school seniors who have a record of community service,” said Kevin Techau, Keep Iowa Beautiful Executive Director, “and a desire to continue to support and contribute to the enhancement of the place they live.”
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Byers Scholarship Winner:
Evelyn Wertzberger, Dubuque
Attending University of Iowa, studying political science/environmental policy.
Scholarship named in honor of educator Bob Byers and his dedication to young people and environmental concerns has been a driving force encouraging young people to help improve their communities.
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Fultz Scholarship Winner:
Megan Clark, Grand Mound
Attending Iowa State University, studying agriculture communications.
Scholarship named in honor of Bill Fultz, founding KIB Board member and artist. He started an advertising agency that became the largest agriculture advertising agency in the world.
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Schnepf Scholarship Winner:
Saumya Balaji
Attending Iowa State, studying environmental science at Iowa State University.
Scholarship named in honor of Gerry Schnepf, founding KIB Executive Director. His career spanned 50 years of making Iowa a better place to live, work and raise a family.
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Since the creation of the scholarship program, Keep Iowa Beautiful has awarded $54,000 to 64 students. There were 91 applications for this year’s three scholarships. |
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Register Your Group for a 2022 Pick-Up Iowa Event! |
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Join communities across Iowa participating in Pick-Up Iowa 2022 in coordination with the Great American Cleanup! You and your organization can participate by cleaning up litter and trash along Iowa’s roadsides, neighborhoods, streets, school grounds, parks, forests, and streams.
Who may participate?
Anyone! Cities, community and civic associations, schools, church groups, local sports teams, college clubs, groups of families and friends, businesses, Scouts, and others can organize their members and participate in Pick-Up Iowa.
When: Pick-Up Iowa, will be held between April 1st and June 30th, 2022 on any dates that work for your group.
What: Pick-Up Iowa is part of Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup — the nation’s largest community improvement program. It is estimated 20,000 communities participate nationwide. As a Keep America Beautiful affiliate, Keep Iowa Beautiful is encouraging communities across the state to host a clean-up event between April and June.
To participate, click the link below to register your group. Registered participant groups are eligible for a limited supply of free cleanup supplies such as bags and gloves donated by Keep Iowa Beautiful.
We look forward to assisting you with a successful Pick-Up Iowa 2021 event!
Register your group TODAY!
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Tales from the Trails Event |
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Join Keep Iowa Beautiful for a celebration to honor the legacy of John Karras with an evening of stories that honor him & RAGBRAI! |
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On April 28th cyclists & friends of RAGBRAI will gather for a celebration to honor the RAGBRAI legacy of John Karras with stories that honor him & RAGBRAI. The evening will feature invited Friends of RAGBRAI speakers, and an open mic will be available for individuals that want to tell their tales from the trails.The first of these events will be held at the Cedar Rapids Ray Gun store community room on 2nd floor located at 1028 3rd St SE, Cedar Rapids. More details to be available soon. Time to be announced, no admission fee to attend. Refreshments are planned for attendees.
This event will also support the Keep Iowa Beautiful Karras Cart program that hooks up Iowa bike clubs with a utility trailer to help them Keep Iowa trails and parks free of trash and litter. A free will offering will be accepted in support of the Karras Cart program.
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MONTH OF ACTION
April is Keep Iowa Beautiful Month!
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April is Keep Iowa Beautiful Month and Earth Day 2022 is coming up on April 22nd! How are you planning to celebrate in April?
This year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet”. Working to better the sustainability and health of life on earth requires every one of us to invest our time and resources into doing our part. What better way to “Invest in Our Planet” by making a difference in your local community? Grab a couple friends and sign up to participate in this year’s Pick Up Iowa event—a statewide initiative aimed at empowering local volunteers to clean up litter and debris in their hometowns.
To sign up your group for a Pick-Up Iowa event, click below!
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Keep Iowa Beautiful BONUS Social Media Contest Winner |
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Thank you to all photographers for capturing the spirit of Iowa in your entries! We already can’t wait to share more of our state next year.
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2021 Keep Iowa Beautiful Annual Report |
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Did you know that in 2021, Keep Iowa Beautiful volunteers dedicated over 7,200 hours to community improvement projects and collected nearly 5,400 trash bags of litter and debris from around their local communities? Not even the challenges of 2021 could stop our amazing staff, volunteers, and Hometown Pride communities from working hard to improve the sustainability and vitality of their local areas.
Check out our program highlights, award winners, and more from this past year in the 2021 Keep Iowa Beautiful Annual Report!
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When you see litter happening on Iowa’s roadways from a vehicle, Call 1-888-665-4887
Please provide as much detail about the incident as possible:
- License plate number
- Time and specific location (street & city)
- What was thrown from the vehicle
- A vehicle description (color, make and model)
Call 1.888.NOLITTR (1-888-665-4887) to report littering from a vehicle.
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Social Media Submissions
Keep Iowa Beautiful wants to share your community’s good news!
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Are you proud of a completed project in your town? Do you want to show off a new mural in your downtown? Did you host a fun, exciting event for your community? We want to know about it!
Click on the button below to share short descriptions of events, projects, or news from your town! You can include pictures and captions as well. Keep Iowa Beautiful will share your post on our social media!
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Your Support Matters!
Keep Iowa Beautiful is a non-profit organization and, as such, relies on your support to ensure the success of our environmental education and community outreach programs.
Donations will help KIB's efforts to support our community. Any amount is valued and appreciated.
Donations can be made online or checks can be mailed to our office:
Keep Iowa Beautiful
2910 Westown Pkwy #302,
West Des Moines, IA 50266
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KEEP IOWA BEAUTIFUL
2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 302 | West Des Moines, IA 50266
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