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Red Hill and Gardens

$1,000 Award Goes to the Patrick Henry’s Red Hill

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Red Hill and GardensToday’s 2021 Green Grants award goes to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation, in Charlotte County, who will receive $1000 for its Recycling project.  We’ll be announcing one award each day during the month of June. 

Every year, 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.

The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation promotes educational and research programs studying the life and legacy of Patrick Henry. The foundation is located at Red Hill, Patrick Henry’s last home and burial place, which has been converted to a historic site and museum. The foundation is responsible for restoring, maintaining, and sharing Red Hill with the public.

Recycling is an important way to help keep Red Hill as beautiful as when Patrick Henry moved there in 1796. The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation will use grant funds to purchase and install recycling bins and supplies. One will be placed at the picnic area where school children and adults can recycle plastic, cardboard, and aluminum from their lunches. Another will be placed outside the Visitor Center for staff and visitors to use each day.

The mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve the natural and scenic environment.  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.

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30in30 2021 posts - Partnership for a New Phoebus

First Green Grant is Awarded to Partnership for a New Phoebus

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We’re excited to announce the first award of our 2021 “Green Grants!” We’ll be announcing one each day during the month of June. 

Congratulations to the Partnership for a New Phoebus, located in Hampton, who will receive a grant award of $1000 for its Community Beautification project!

Every year, 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.

Partnership for a New Phoebus will improve the flood resiliency, landscape aesthetics, and overall amenities of their new waterfront park.  The neighborhood’s small waterfront green space, the Phoebus Waterfront Park, was formerly a vacant business and parking lot that stood on historically significant land.  Rain gardens will be installed to purify storm water draining into the Chesapeake Bay, and serve as a pollinator garden.  Native marsh grass along the shore will be installed to act as a natural safeguard against erosion.  Grant funds will be used to purchase an acre’s worth of seeds and plugs for restoring the salt marsh, as well as native pollinator plants.  

The mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve the natural and scenic environment.  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.

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Here Comes the Judge

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Green Grants LogoThank you to everyone who submitted an application for our 30 in 30 Green Grants Program!  We had a good response in all four categories, outlining projects that were varied and purposeful.  They clearly demonstrate the needs in communities, and show what can be done with dedication and some funding.  The judges certainly will have a tough time evaluating and scoring this year’s proposals!

We’d like to thank this year’s panel of judges for their expertise in their fields.  They take time from their busy days to read, evaluate, and score applications for their respective category.  We will compile their scores to determine the top applications, and announce one grant award each day during the month of June on our website and social media channels.

 

Judging Panel for 2021 Green Grants

Community Beautification Category
Renesha Chiles, Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
Lane Guilliam, former KVB Board member, Wilton House
Nancy Heltman, Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
Eunice Kulesza, former Sr. Env. Comp. Specialist at FAREVA
Kathy Emerson, Local Artist
Chris Vassey, Attorney, KVB Board member

Litter Prevention and Cigarette Litter Prevention Categories
Carol W. Doss, Former KVB Board member, Keep SW Virginia Beautiful
Kris Ferguson, KVB Board Member, Ferguson Environmental Consulting 
Julia Hillegass, KVB Board Member, Agricultural Reserve City of Virginia Beach
Kendra Norrell, Community Outreach Coordinator, City of Richmond
Suzanne Taylor, Dept. of Environmental Quality

Recycling Category
Chris Conley, Afton Chemical
Jake Hughes, WestRock
Rebecca Johnson, WestRock
Roseann Lee, WestRock
Ravi Menon, Afton Chemical
Douglas Sharo,  KVB Board Member, Sustainability Manager, WestRock
Cathy Warner, GHD
Julie Williams-Daves, Dominion Energy

We are also very grateful to this year’s sponsors:  Altria, Coca-Cola, WestRock, and Keep America Beautiful!  We sincerely appreciate the financial and other support they provide.

Follow THIS LINK to see the list of last year’s Green Grant Awards.  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different programs and projects throughout the state.

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Green Grants Applications Are Live

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Green Grants LogoWe had a terrific turnout for our Shiver in the River mission challenge!  We completed or 2,021 mile path around the Commonwealth, where one bag of litter or one environmental act equaled one mile.  Thank you to everyone who helped us reach this goal – to those who donated, who cleaned up litter, who started gardens and cleared out invasive plants.  And a special shout-out to the groups that went above last weekend as part of the Great American Cleanup, it was the extra effort that put us across the finish line!

One of the other benefits of the challenge was that we met many new people from all corners of the state!  We also learned about the needs of different communities, such as safe cleanup equipment and supplies, graffiti abatement, recycling programs – which is why we started our 30 in 30 Green Grants initiative in 2011.

We are now accepting grant applications for our annual 30 in 30 Green Grants program!  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different programs and projects throughout the state.  Groups can apply in four different categories, for grants of $500, $750, or $1,000 to carry out their environmental projects or programs.

And because 2020 was a year that brought the national spotlight to diversity, equity, and inclusion, our organization met to determine how we could better support these groups. We decided to create a special focus of our Green Grants this year to add five additional grant awards specifically to diverse groups and underserved populations. This will raise our grant award commitment to 35 grants in 30 days!

You have until April 30th to submit your application.  A panel of judges who are experts in their fields will evaluate and score the applications during the month of May.  Then the awards will be announced each day during the month of June on our website and through social media.

Questions?  We’ve got answers.  Learn more about the Green Grants program!  We are grateful to our sponsors for this year’s 30 in 30 Green Grant program:  Altria, Coca-Cola, WestRock, and Keep America Beautiful!

R - Fixit Fair

Repairing Is Recycling

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Jewelry Repair

Recycling isn’t just about melting down metal, or turning paper into pulp to create more paper. Repurposing or repairing are two other options that can make an otherwise discarded item useful again. Here’s an example of a group that was able to think outside the box — I mean recycling bin.

Keep Prince William Beautiful, Inc. is a non-profit environmental organization that serves Prince William County by partnering with residents, businesses and government to educate and inspire people to be environmental stewards.

They wanted to offer an alternative way for people to avoid adding items to the landfill or the process of recycling by encouraging community members to repair small household items that could still be usable. Items such as jewelry, clothing, small appliances, electronics, eyeglasses, bicycles, and small furniture that could use a little attention would be put back into service, rather than being thrown away.

Keep Prince William Beautiful applied for one of our Green Grants for $750 in the Recycling category. Their proposal stated they would offer a stipend of $75 to each of ten professional “fixers” to help them accomplish their Fixit Fair.

The Fixit Fair was held last weekend, and it was a success! While they were originally going to host the event in a library’s Community Center, they needed to make adjustments due to the COVID guidelines. They decided it would be more safety conscious to host the event outside under a canopied structure at the County Government Complex. Also, instead of having a “first come, first served” service, they required registration and for attendees to drop off their items for repair.

Forty-three community members brought various broken items to see if they could be repaired rather than thrown out. In each case, the fixers were able to determine the problem for each of the broken items. They successfully repaired several pieces of wooden and metal furniture, bicycles, jewelry, clothing, televisions, computers, and even a beloved stuffed octopus who was in need of repair!

They plan to host another Fixit Fair in the future, and are certain that the need and the response will continue to grow!

Do you think a Fixit Fair would be successful in your community?

 

Garden Sign

It’s a Beautiful Thing!

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This is one of the best times of the year for our organization.  It’s when we get the results of the projects and programs that were awarded a 30 in 30 Green Grant back in June.  Even with some delays and redirection due to the pandemic, people in communities all across our Commonwealth were able to make a difference with the grant funds we awarded, thanks to support from Altria, in partnership with Coca-Cola and Keep America Beautiful.

The West Piedmont Planning District Commission submitted a proposal for a $1,000 grant in the Community Beautification category, to construct a demonstration garden at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School.  The school has an 1100-foot Nature Trail that includes an outdoor classroom area.  They wanted to install native plants along the trail, with informational signs, plant markers, and interpretive material to help educate the public about native plants.

It took six volunteers to prepare the area and install the plantings.  The first task was to remove non-native invasive species and poison ivy from the areas where the native plants would be installed. Franklin County Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners committed to provide volunteer hours to plant and maintain the demonstration garden areas.

Plants that are native to Virginia provide a natural habitat for wildlife and require less water, but need no fertilizer or pesticides.  This reduces the amount of chemicals in the landscape, which maintains the water quality in nearby rivers and streams.

West Piedmont PDC also developed a website for the demonstration garden: https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/franklin-county-bfms-garden.  The website includes an educational brochure about the plants at the garden.   The area will provide advanced educational opportunities for the 6,880 Franklin County students, as well as the general public. Approximately 1,300 students attend Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

The hope is that this is the first of many demonstration gardens across Virginia’s Southern Piedmont region to showcase the native plants and educate students and visitors about the value and need for native plants.

Now that’s a beautiful thing!

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$1,000 Awarded to Center for Natural Capital for Litter Prevention

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The Center for Natural Capital develops programs and projects that create employment to restore nature and build resilient communities. Through their Stream Sweepers program, they have removed over 2,500 tires and 67,000 pounds of trash since 2013, while providing meaningful training and employment opportunities for more than 80 young people across Virginia. The boats they use to conduct the cleanups have been worn down with use.

While they usually receive donated boats to repair, they have seen a decrease in repairable and usable boat donations. Center for Natural Capital will now be able to use funds awarded by Keep Virginia Beautiful to purchase new boats to continue their cleanups.

Good luck Stream Sweepers!

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Keep Suffolk Beautiful Awarded $500 for Litter Prevention

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Keep Suffolk Beautiful promotes public interest in the general improvement of the environment, and coordinates programs for litter control. Due to recent events and the possibility that social distancing will continue for a period of time, KSB will create cleanup kits so that families in the community will have the tools needed to clean up safely.

Grant funds will be used to purchase cleanup supplies for the kits, such as grabbers, vests, gloves, and trash bags. Families will complete an application to obtain a kit, and agree to report cleanup activity to the Litter Control Office. Keep Suffolk Beautiful will share their pictures on social media to raise awareness of litter prevention, and praise volunteer efforts in the fight against litter.

Keep Suffolk Beautiful believes that each of us holds an obligation to preserve and protect our environment.  That’s an idea everyone can support!

 

Broadwater Academy is Awarded $750 for Litter Prevention Project

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Broadwater Academy is selected to receive a $750 Green Grant for its Litter Prevention project that will incorporate composting at the school.

Broadwater Academy is an independent college preparatory school serving Pre-K to Grade 12 on the Eastern Shore that is developing the next generation of respectful, civic-minded leaders and productive citizens. They are making strides to reduce their overall waste output through recycling, composting, and organizing campus and road clean up days. They will establish a composting program that includes incorporating the finished compost into the school garden. Students will use grant funds for materials and tools needed to create compost from food waste at Broadwater. These activities will create good citizens for our future.

Composting is the ultimate trash to treasure!  Good luck to the students at Broadwater Academy!

Halifax County Awarded $500 Green Grant for Recycling

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The Halifax County Quality of Place Work Group is made up of 20 community leaders who volunteer to help their county be the best it can be. This group implemented initiatives like community volunteering to plan and carry out cleanups and beautification projects.

During their Community Clean Up Day, they realized the severity of their littering problem, and now hope to influence change within the community through education and new recycling opportunities.

With a campaign called “It’s in the Bag,” they will use their farmer’s market to start a litter-free and recycling culture in Halifax County. There will be Litter Prevention Stations at each county farmer’s market that offer recycling opportunities, such as reusable shopping bags, a plastic bag recycling receptacle, educational materials, and a list of crafts that children can make with plastic bags.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  Way to go Halifax County!

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