Amazing Raise, Community Blitz, and More News

So much to catch up on! Where to start?

This morning at 6 a.m. the Amazing Raise began. This is an opportunity for folks like you to lend some support for nonprofits like us. Are you sick of wading through cigarette butts? Tired of watching litter blowing down the street? Feel as if your ‘burg could use a community garden? Playground need a fresh coat of paint? The funds you donate through the Amazing Raise will go far towards helping us to continue that mission. It will close tomorrow, September 17th at 6 p.m. Thanks in advance for your support. Follow this link to go to our Amazing Raise page.

Speaking of our mission, we’re starting to hear back from some of our 30 in 30 winners. If you’re new to the show, 30 Grants in Thirty Days is an annual program in which we do just that – award 30 grants over the course of a month, usually coinciding with Earth Day. Our winners are schools, community groups, municipalities, and even our Virginia State Parks. They use these grants for recycling programs, beautification projects, environmental education, and a host of other awesome things that meet the goals of our mission. We can’t do that alone at Keep Virginia Beautiful, and this past year we had some amazing partners in Altria and MeadWestvaco, who stepped up with funding to make 30 in 30 happen.

A few days ago, we heard from a nice lady named Carrie. She’s the Board Chair for the Greater Richmond Green Building Council, and also with one of our 30 in 30 winners, Clover Hill Elementary School. She writes:

“I’m with Clover Hill Elementary School, and we have our plans well underway!  There are a couple of potential synergies for grant awardees that you might be interested in sharing.
 
Green Apple Day of Service – This is a USGBC initiative that will be held officially Saturday, September 26th, but schools aren’t necessarily bound by that date and can do it anytime this fall. Schools from around the nation and the world will come together and complete a project that not only supports their own school’s sustainability goals, but also supports the global movement of healthy “green” schools.  Last year over 3800 schools participated.  30 in 30 schools might use this platform to organize/advertise a volunteer service event to kick off their project.  Projects are registered on the website http://mygreenapple.org/ and this can help recruit community volunteers.  
 
Connect the Dots Challenge – 30 in 30 schools could also consider registering under this GVGBC program, which is open to all Virginia schools implementing a green project or program.  Entries are due November 6th, and typically consist of a description and photographs of their project, which are things they’ll need to have for the grant reporting anyway.  Participants are eligible to win cash prizes.  They can take their grant money and potentially turn it into a cash prize!  Winners will be announced in December.  You can see more about that at https://gvgbc.wildapricot.org/Connect-the-Dots.”

Great ideas, and we look forward to hearing about your success at Clover Hill!

Lastly, we just had our second RVA Community Improvement Blitz, and it was a great success! This was in advance of the 2015 UCI World Cycling Championships, as we wanted Virginia to shine a global spotlight. We had hundreds of volunteers across dozens of sites working on litter, recycling, beautification, and more. We did this in partnership with the City of Richmond’s Mayor’s Participation, Action, and Communication Team; Neighbor to Neighbor, the Clean City Commission; and corporate partners Altria and Lowes. Thank you to everyone who joined a Blitz team, and especially those who pitched in with self-directed cleanups in their neighborhoods and places of work!