Keep Durham Beautiful Honored by Keep America Beautiful

Durhamites know that Durham has a wonderful and vibrant community, but now others are paying attention.

Keep Durham Beautiful received Keep America Beautiful President’s Circle Award during Keep America Beautiful’s 60th anniversary National Conference, recently held in Washington DC. The President’s Circle Award recognizes exemplary performance by certified affiliates of the national nonprofit in building and sustaining vibrant communities.

In qualifying for a President’s Circle Award, Keep Durham Beautiful has met Keep America Beautiful’s standards of excellence by conducting an annual Community Appearance Index, calculating the affiliate’s cost/benefit ratio, and administering activities in the areas of litter prevention, recycling and waste reduction, and beautification and 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 Matt McKenna. “Our affiliates are providing real solutions to local problems caused by litter, graffiti, illegal dumping and other community blight by engaging volunteers of all ages in its effort to create a vibrant community.”

Community Appearance Index-Litter Index:  The Keep America Beautiful Community Appearance Index-Litter Index is a tool used by KAB affiliates to visually assess overall appearance of communities through indicators such as litter, illegal signs, graffiti, abandoned/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” designated as “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 programs and education.

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 government.

About Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc.
Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc. is a nonprofit, volunteer organization working in partnership with the City of Durham’s General Services Department and the County of Durham to encourage private businesses, residents, and community organizations to conserve and enhance the appearance and environment of Durham through cleanup events, beautification projects, and educational activities. Click for more information, “like” on Facebook, or “follow” on Twitter.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc. 
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a strong national network of 1,200 affiliates and partners including state recycling organizations, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities. Keep America Beautiful offers programs and engages in public-private partnerships that help create clean, beautiful public places, reduce waste and increase recycling while educating generations of environmental stewards. Through our actions, we help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.

For more about Durham, visit this website.