Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School to Dive In with Grant

Keep Virginia Beautiful is awarding “30 Grants In 30 Days” in April and May 2012.  The Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School in Tappahannock has been awarded a $750 grant in the Recycling Category.  Our “30 in 30” grant program focuses greater resources and attention on organizations and individual localities throughout the Commonwealth and how they are addressing the issues of litter prevention, recycling, waste reduction, beautification and education.

We provided the opportunity for government, non-profit and/or service organizations in Virginia to apply for one of thirty grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 in three different categories: Beautification, Litter Prevention, and Recycling. These grants are made possible by our generous partners – Capital One, Waste Management and Lowe’s.

Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School for Marine and Environmental Science’s mission is to develop leaders with a respect for environmental issues.  One way to accomplish this mission is to have students begin a plastic bag collection program at two of the local community colleges.  Their student body is made up of gifted and highly motivated high school students who travel to Rappahannock Community College (Warsaw and Glenn’s campuses) to receive dual enrollment credit in a variety of math and science courses.  These two locations provide them with a unique ability to interact and enlighten a large portion of the Tidewater community.  They plan to set up plastic bag collection sites within the student and faculty lounges at both Rappahannock Community College campuses.  They also plan to highlight these collection sites with a weeklong community plastic bag collection challenge to bring in used plastic bags in exchange for reusable shopping bags.  During this week (October 15-19, 2012), the Governor’s School students will display informative posters and pass out fliers aimed to educate the public in the communities of the Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula about how plastic bags harm the environment, especially Virginia’s most precious natural resource, the Chesapeake Bay.

Our mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve our natural and scenic environment through 5 impact areas: Litter Prevention, Waste Reduction, Recycling, Beautification, and Environmental Education.