Keep Jasper County Beautiful Joins Thriving SC Network
Local Organization Seeks to Foster a Cleaner, Greener, More Beautiful Jasper County
(Columbia, SC) – Keep South Carolina Beautiful, the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., and a division of PalmettoPride, welcomes Jasper County to its expanding community-based Network of Affiliates with the certification of Keep Jasper County Beautiful.
“We are proud to see Jasper County making litter, beautification and recycling a priority,” stated Mallory Coffey, Keep South Carolina Beautiful State Leader. “Becoming an affiliate is an extensive process, only undertaken by those who understand the commitment needed to create a cleaner, greener and more beautiful community for the future.”
After a year of preparation, KJCB finalized their affiliate certification with an Advisory Board Training. These volunteers believe in pickup, enforcement, education and awareness solutions to solve litter issues in Jasper County. The KJCB Advisory Board includes members of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Jasper County SCDNR Office, Jasper County SCDOT Office, Jasper County employees, Palmetto Electric Cooperative, small business owners and volunteers from municipalities throughout the County.
After KJCB Director Lyn Boyles lobbied for the affiliate creation over the course of five years, elected officials agreed to support these efforts. “PalmettoPride’s KSCB Start Up Grant paid for our one-time certification fee to KAB and will help us financially to build the foundation of our affiliate,” stated Boyles. “Keep South Carolina Beautiful assisted us throughout the entire process. Our state affiliate helps us build our capacity to further share our mission and achieve our goals. We are fully equipped with the tools and resources needed to expand our volunteer base and teach the citizens of Jasper County to live a healthy and beautiful environment.”
The affiliate developed a strategic plan focused on KAB’s three pillars: litter, beautification and recycling. To begin, their main focus will be to clean the streets and roadways throughout Jasper County, developing relationships with the local businesses, educating the students in the school system and planning regional and county-wide cleanups.
“This group understands the economic development issues and how those issues relate to litter. These volunteers know Keep Jasper County Beautiful is the resource for ending litter and setting the standard for a citizen, not customer attitude. We left their certification training knowing this affiliate is here to make the solutions work. You’ll be seeing them, hearing from them, and volunteering for them before you know it,” said Coffey.
In addition to their planned cleanups, KJCB will continue the Grab a Bucket, SC campaign and focus on cleaning problem areas found during their litter index. “Our litter index showed us we have some work to do, but now we have a starting point,” explained Boyles.
Keep Jasper County Beautiful joins more than 30 local affiliates across South Carolina. In addition, KJCB will join more than 600 KAB affiliates, including 26 state affiliates, and a number of international affiliates.
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PalmettoPride is working towards a litter-free South Carolina. Created as a legislative initiative to fight litter and help beautify South Carolina by engaging citizens to take action in their communities through education, enforcement, awareness and pickup. Keep South Carolina Beautiful is the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and is housed as a program under PalmettoPride. KSCB oversees nearly 30 affiliates across the state and provides resources, training, and guidance to those affiliates.
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 600 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.