NEWBERRY — Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, has presented Keep Newberry County Beautiful with its 2022 President’s Circle Award. The President’s Circle Award recognizes exemplary performance by certified affiliates of Keep America Beautiful in creating clean, green and beautiful communities.

In qualifying for the President’s Circle Award, Keep Newberry County Beautiful has met standards of merit of Keep America Beautiful by conducting an annual Community Appearance Index; calculating the affiliate’s cost/benefit ratio; and administering initiatives to end littering, improve recycling and beautify Newberry County’s community. Keep Newberry County Beautiful is one of more than 700 community-based affiliates in the Keep America Beautiful network whose programs, initiatives and efforts, supported by millions of volunteers, help transform public spaces into beautiful places.

“Achieving the President’s Circle Award means Keep Newberry County Beautiful is working in strategic, creative and sustainable ways to keep and create beautiful communities,” said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Jennifer Lawson. “Every day Keep Newberry County Beautiful engages the community members of Newberry County to take the responsibility of keeping clean neighbors, of growing beautiful places and teaching others of the importance of waste reduction in and out of the home. We are thrilled to celebrate your excellence and are grateful for your example and leadership.”

“We are committed to educate our community about the effects of litter, and our goal to keep Newbery County roadways, parks and neighbors clean and safe for our residents and visitors is top priority. We are proud of the recognition in President’s Circle and will continue to maintain high standards.” said Crista Lukoski, Executive Director, Keep Newberry County Beautiful.

Community Appearance Index-Litter Index: The Keep America Beautiful Community Appearance

Index-Litter Index is a tool used by its affiliates to visually assess overall appearance of communities through indicators such as litter, illegal signs, graffiti, abandoned or junk vehicles and outside storage.

A team of community, business and government representatives conduct the visual analysis using a scoring system ranging from 1-4, with “1” rated as “no litter” to “4” being “extremely littered.” Each year, affiliates grade their communities during a drive-by examination of the same areas at the same time of the year. This provides an indication of the success of each community’s anti-littering education and other anti-littering programs.

Cost/Benefit Analysis: This measurement tool enables Keep America Beautiful affiliates to demonstrate their ability to leverage community resources by determining the dollar value returned to the community for every dollar invested by the government.

About Keep Newberry County Beautiful

www.keepnewberrybeautiful.com #keepnewberrybeautiful.

Keep Newberry County Beautiful in South Carolina is a community improvement organization whose network educates individuals about litter prevention, beautification and community greening, waste reduction and recycling. Through partnerships and strategic alliances with citizens, businesses and government, Keep Newberry County Beautiful motivates volunteers to clean up, beautify and improve their neighborhoods, thereby creating healthier, safer and more livable community environment.

www.kab.org #DoBeautifulThings

About Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment.

Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 700 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials and individuals. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Donate and take action at kab.org.