Keep Charleston Beautiful Honored by Keep America Beautiful for High Performance Achieved in 2010
December 15, 2010
Local Organization Recognized as Among the “Best of the Best” Nationwide
CHARLESTON, SC – December 15, 2010 – Keep Charleston Beautiful received Keep America Beautiful President’s Circle Award at the President’s Circle Award Luncheon, during Keep America Beautiful’s 57th annual National Conference in Orlando, Fla. The President’s Circle Award recognizes exemplary performance made by certified affiliates of the national nonprofit to reduce litter, minimize waste and recycle, and beautify their local communities.
In qualifying for a President’s Circle Award, Keep Charleston Beautiful has met Keep America Beautiful’s standards of excellence by conducting an annual Litter Index, calculating the affiliate’s cost/benefit ratio, and engaging volunteers to take greater responsibility for their community environment. In addition, award recipients must conduct activities in Keep America Beautiful’s three core focus areas of litter prevention, recycling and waste reduction, and beautification/community greening.
“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 President and CEO Matthew M. McKenna. “Our affiliates are providing real solutions to problems like litter, graffiti, illegal dumping and other community blights. By engaging people of all ages in community improvement efforts, Keep Charleston Beautiful is represented among the best in promoting the values Keep America Beautiful espouses nationally.”
Litter Index: The Keep America Beautiful Litter Index is a tool used by KAB affiliates to measure litter from year to year, identify “hot spots,” and track their progress in remedying the problem. The tool uses a four-point Likert-type ordinal scale (ranging from 1 – no litter to 4 – extremely littered). The Litter Index can be applied to rural or urban areas of any population size. 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. Keep Charleston Beautiful conducted its Litter Index this past July; Charleston rated a 2.36 on the Litter Index. The index takes into account litter, graffiti, over all lot condition, illegally posted signs, and natural resource degradation. Twenty-five locations are surveyed annually, five from each of Charleston’s different Geographic regions, West Ashley, James Islands, Daniels Island, Johns Island and the Peninsula.
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 government dollar invested. The Coast/Benefit Analysis for Keep Charleston Beautiful in 2010 was 4.73. In 2010 more than 4,000 volunteers donated over 9,000 hours of service to Keep Charleston Beautiful allowing the organization to estimate a Coast/Benefit ratio of 1 to 4.73 for the year. This means that for every dollar that Keep Charleston Beautiful received a value of $4.73 was put back into the community though services and projects.
About Keep Charleston Beautiful
The City of Charleston’s Keep Charleston Beautiful organization is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. KCB is dedicated to promoting the cleanliness and beautification of the City of Charleston through education, public awareness, and community involvement. Founded in 1977, Keep Charleston Beautiful works with local schools, businesses, and organizations to educate the community on the importance of litter prevention, waste responsibility, and community beautification. For additional information, please visit www.keepcharlestonbeautiful.org.
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of more than 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. For additional information, visit www.kab.org.
