Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, today announced the organization is providing Keep Blount Beautiful with a $5,000 grant as part of the 2017 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant Program.
The 2017 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant Program engages local volunteers to take action to benefit their community with projects that focus on critical needs. Keep Blount Beautiful’s grant program will help provide edible community gardens for two schools located in Blount County. This is a continuation of Keep Blount Beautiful’s “The Kids Keep Blount Beautiful” campaign.
“The Kids Keep Blount Beautiful is a campaign implemented by Keep Blount Beautiful to instill in our young citizens a sense of ownership over their town. With this specific project we hope to provide a unique learning opportunity as well as increased food access to fresh fruits and vegetables for two schools in our area”, said Alanna McKissack, Executive Director of Keep Blount Beautiful.
In addition, to Keep Blount Beautiful’s grant initiative, Lowe’s is supporting more than 30 other grant-funded community service projects in 2017. Since the Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s partnership began in 2012, Lowe’s has contributed more than $6 million and over 1,800 Lowe’s Heroes volunteers to help Keep America Beautiful improve communities. The projects range from restoring neighborhood parks and planting community and school gardens to leading disaster restoration initiatives and large-scale cleanups. The donation this year will also support Keep America’s Beautiful’s annual Great American Cleanup, the nation’s largest community improvement program.
“Lowe’s has been empowering our national network of affiliates with significant Lowe’s Community Partners Grants for years, helping Keep America Beautiful turn public spaces into beautiful places,” said Helen Lowman, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and Lowe’s is taking responsibility to contribute to our vision.”
Keep Blount Beautiful is reaching out to the public for interested schools in this project. Schools interested can apply on KeepBlountBeautiful.org by following the “Upcoming Events” tab to “The Kids Keep Blount Beautiful” page. Applications will be accepted through August 11. Keep Blount Beautiful plans to begin the plantings in September.
“Our Lowe’s Heroes volunteers are ready to roll up their sleeves to help make our communities better places to live,” said James Frison, Lowe’s director of community relations. “By working with Keep America Beautiful to address critical needs, we’re demonstrating our commitment to protecting the environment and improving the health of our communities.”