Who hasn’t heard of Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and remembers the crying Indian and Woodsy Owl saying, “Give a Hoot. Don’t Pollute.” public service ads on TV? You may not know that Keep Virginia Beautiful (KVB) has actually been around slightly longer than KAB. Both organizations began in 1953, but in VA, we had the Anti-Litterbug Council first and KAB used a big cleanup effort in the Culpeper region as a measuring stick for the nation.
Keep Virginia Beautiful remains a relevant organization in our Commonwealth and continues to promote waste reduction and recycling initiatives, litter prevention, beautification efforts, and environmental education. In its 60 year history, KVB has worked closely with Keep America Beautiful and has won every major award offered to its affiliates. KVB has a strong heritage and I am proud to be a member of the board of directors.
After our recent effort to reinvigorate and improve the effectiveness of our organization, KVB has accomplished many things to advance the natural and scenic environment in Virginia. We held our third annual golf tournament this year and just awarded 30 grants for each of the 30 days in June for recycling, litter prevention, and beautification projects around the state. This year’s 30 in 30 grants are sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement.
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2013 is particularly exciting for KVB as we celebrate our 60th anniversary. Our year-long celebration is GIVE 60, where individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations give 60 minutes to make a positive and lasting impact through community service by picking up litter, planting a community garden, removing graffiti, maintaining hiking trails, and any number of other activities that will keep Virginia beautiful. We are also offering an opportunity to those same individuals and groups to give $60 and for non-profits to earn a share of the donations when they take on local projects that promote the initiative.
The anniversary celebration culminates with the KVB Gala, which will be held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond on October 5th. We are expecting a large crowd of current and past state officials, corporate leaders, dignitaries and influential members of our community. Some highlights include securing the ten living First Ladies of VA to serve on an Honorary Board for the Gala as well as a resolution from Governor McDonnell commending us for our 60 years of helping making a positive and lasting impact in Virginia. The evening will feature music, dining, and fine art, including both silent and live auctions. KVB is also bringing back its awards program and will be recognizing individuals and organizations caught in a beautiful act. To be considered, submit photos or videos of cleanups, recycling activities, and beautification projects and “Get Caught in a Beautiful Act”. Tickets for the Gala, details about the awards program, and the Give 60 initiative are available on the KVB website:
