Keep the Midlands Beautiful Receives $20,000 Grant from Lowe’s

Lowe’s Community Partners grant supports Irmo, South Carolina-based community improvement project

COLUMBIA, SC – Keep the Midlands Beautiful today announced that Lowe’s has awarded a $20,000 grant to support Keep the Midlands Beautiful mission to engage individuals in building and sustaining vibrant communities.

The Lowe’s Community Partners grant will provide funding for the Community Park in the Town of Irmo for additional playground equipment.

“We are thrilled to be selected to receive this generous grant that will be used to purchase and construct playground equipment in Irmo’s Community Park. It will give children in the community an area to be active and enrich their lives” said Jacqueline Buck, Executive Director of Keep the Midlands Beautiful.

The Keep the Midlands Beautiful grant is one of more than 60 merit-based grants awarded nationally by Lowe’s to community-based affiliates of Keep America Beautiful (KAB) to support grassroots service projects ranging from building community gardens and planting trees to leading disaster restoration and recycling programs.

Lowe’s also provides support as a national sponsor of KAB’s flagship program, the Great American Cleanup, which takes place in 20,000 communities from coast to coast. This national program engages on average 2 million volunteers who take action to create positive change and lasting impact.

“The power of the partnership between the Lowe’s and Keep America Beautiful can be seen in the work accomplished by Keep the Midlands Beautiful and the Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers who have spent countless hours to make a difference through our Great American Cleanup and targeted community initiatives,” said Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Keep America Beautiful is thrilled to work with Lowe’s to continue transforming public spaces into beautiful places for a third year.”

Keep America Beautiful affiliates and partnering organizations received support from Lowe’s for 180 initiatives through the first two years of the KAB/Lowe’s grant program. Through this partnership, 130,000 acres of parks and land have been cleaned; more than 886,000 flowers and bulbs have been planted; nearly 200 playgrounds/recreational areas have been restored; and more than 600 edible and community gardens have been planted.

Over the course of the partnership, KAB and Lowe’s have brought together more than 33,000 volunteers and 800 Lowe’s Heroes. Together, they’ve contributed 170,000 volunteer hours in their respective communities.

About Keep the Midlands Beautiful

Established in 1989 to serve Richland and Lexington Counties, the mission of Keep the Midlands Beautiful is to engage, inspire and educate the Midlands to invest in our community through litter prevention, recycling and beautification. Each year, thousands of Midlands residents volunteer to support this mission, including almost 375 groups regularly removing litter on area roads and waterways, schools and businesses coming together to implement recycling programs, and communities pursuing beautification projects. As a 501 (c) 3 organization we rely heavily on support from corporate partners, local businesses and dedicated individuals.

 

About Lowe’s in the Community 
Lowe’s, a FORTUNE^® 100 home improvement company, has a 50-year legacy of supporting the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects.  Since 2007, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together have contributed nearly $200 million to these efforts, and for more than two decades Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers have donated their time to make our communities better places to live. To learn more, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility and LowesInTheCommunity.tumblr.com.

 

About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a powerful national network of community-based affiliates, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.