Our First 2018 30 in Thirty Grant Award Goes To…

We are awarding our annual “30 Grants in Thirty Days” daily during the month of June.  The first award this year goes to the Town of Kilmarnock, with a grant of $1000 in the “Cigarette Litter Prevention” category.  Government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for grants for $500 to $1,000 describing how they plan to tackle an environmental concern in their community regarding Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.

Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided over $178,000 to fund 230 environmental projects and programs all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity this year of our partners at Altria and Keep America Beautiful.

Kilmarnock’s Town Central Park has been struggling with cigarette butts littering the grass and sidewalks, walking paths and even near the children’s play area.  The Mayor and staff often pick up the littered cigarette butts, and collected hundreds off the ground in just one week.   “Don’t Be a Butt” litter campaign is designed to give patrons of Town Centre Park cigarette butt receptacles as an alternative to throwing the butts on the ground.  Small signs attached to the receptacles will instruct visitors where to deposit their cigarette butts, and deter littering.  

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