New Hometown Pride Communities Added

Keep Iowa Beautiful is excited to announce the addition of 5 new Hometown Pride Communities: Walker, Springville, Shellsburg, Center Point, and Hills! 

The cities will be under the leadership of Jessica Johnson, a Community Development Specialist at the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG), a regional council of governments that serves communities in six eastern Iowa counties. Jessica has 15+ years of community development experience, including economic development, strategic planning, community visioning, tourism development, project implementation, fundraising and grant writing. She graduated from Mount Mercy University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing. Jessica lives in Cedar Rapids where she volunteers as a Czech Village/NewBohemia Main Street District executive board member, 100+ Who Care - Cedar Rapids Metro board chair, Leadership for Five Seasons Arts & Culture Day Committee member and United Way of East Central Iowa – Women United Steering Committee member.

Rolfe Hometown Pride Receives Trees Forever Oustanding Organization Award

On September 14th, Rolfe's Hometown Pride Committee received the Trees Forever Outstanding Organization Award. 

The Outstanding Organization Award goes to an organization that completed a successful tree planting, tree care or related project in the past year, or a local business or organization that demonstrates ongoing or exceptional support of and commitment to Trees Forever programs in its community.

Hawarden Paint Iowa Beautiful Project

Calliope Historical Village of Hawarden, IA, a recipient of a Paint Iowa Beautiful grant, recently partnered with Northwest Iowa Manufacturing Careers to completed their Project. The Mercantile, part of Calliope Village, was able to get a new coat of paint! 

Don't Forget- The 13th Annual Keep Iowa Beautiful Photo Contest is Open!

Iowans have the next six months to grab their cameras, or phones, and enter one or all of the five categories.  

The two-phase contest begins now with entry deadline on December 17, 2022. Each of the five categories will be awarded 1st place: $100, 2nd place: $75, and 3rd place: $50.  

January 15-29, 2023, the five first-place winners will be featured on Keep Iowa Beautiful social media for voting and selecting the Public Favorite Photo.  The winner will receive an additional $100.  The Robert D. Ray Best of Show Awards, determined by a distinguished panel, will also be announced at that time.  The Robert D. Ray Best of Show award amounts are as follows; 1st place: $500, 2nd place: $250 and 3rd place: $100.

The five categories are:

Iowa Landscape

Capture Iowa’s beauty through depictions of Iowa’s landscape, including but not limited to: farm fields, rolling hills, and wooded forests.

Iowa Water 

Feature Iowa’s beautiful water systems with depictions of Iowa rivers, streams, ponds and lakes.

Iowa Cities

Iowa’s urban centers are hubs of history, culture, and beauty. This category features depictions of Iowa’s cities, street scenes, and urban landmarks.

Iowans in Action

This category aims to capture the spirit of Iowa through depictions of the people that live, work, and play in Iowa.  All means of action that can be captured: biking, running, fishing, hunting and hiking are but a few. 

Iowa Wildlife

Iowa is home to a variety of beautiful critters. This category aims to showcase Iowa’s beauty through depictions of Iowa’s wildlife animals: mammals, fish, birds, bugs and more!

A $5 fee is required for each photo entered.  Contest rules and entry guidelines are on KIB’s website: www.keepiowabeautiful.com/photograph-contest/ 

Pick Up Iowa events are happening all over the state! Read about a few communities below! 

Social Media Submissions

Keep Iowa Beautiful wants to share your community’s good news!

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!

You Can Stop Litter!

You can help reduce litter in Iowa! 

When you see litter happening on Iowa’s roadways, call 1-888-NOLITTR (1-888-665-4887) to report littering from a vehicle.  

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) 

Reported offenders will receive a warning letter from Keep Iowa Beautiful drawing attention to their offense. This sends the message that people, like you, are watching.