The national Keep America Beautiful organization honored the local Keep Champaign Beautiful program with its prestigious President’s Circle Award at its national conference on January 26, 2017. The President’s Circle Award recognizes exemplary performance by certified affiliates of the national nonprofit in creating clean, green and beautiful communities.
In qualifying for a President’s Circle Award, Keep Champaign Beautiful has met Keep America Beautiful’s standards of merit by conducting an annual Community Appearance Index, calculating the affiliate’s cost/benefit ratio, and administering activities in the areas of ending littering, improving recycling, and beautifying Champaign’s community. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful consists of a national network of more than 620 community-based affiliates whose programs, initiatives and efforts, supported by millions of volunteers, help transform public spaces into beautiful places.
“One of Keep America Beautiful’s most effective tools is the work of our grassroots network of affiliate organizations, which has an impact on millions of Americans each year,” said Keep America Beautiful COO Becky Lyons. “Our affiliates are providing real solutions that help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.”
As a component of the Champaign Growing Greener Environmental Sustainability Plan, the City of Champaign became a certified affiliate of Keep America Beautiful in August 2015. Champaign Growing Greener has several components that align with Keep America Beautiful, including changing littering behavior, improved waste handling, and community beautification.
“Implementing change in a community can be led by a City initiative but we recognized that in order to create real change, we needed our residents’ participation,” reports Champaign’s Code Compliance Manager David Oliver. “Many communities have accomplished this through their affiliation with the Keep America Beautiful program, and we hope to be able to do that here as well with the Keep Champaign Beautiful program.”
Contact: David R. Oliver | Code Compliance Manager |(217) 403-7070 [email protected]