Keep America Beautiful Rallies Grassroots Volunteers for Great American Cleanup Earth Day Events Nationwide

STAMFORD, Conn., April 9, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Keep America Beautiful (KAB), the nation’s leading nonprofit that builds and sustains clean, green and beautiful communities, will rally thousands of volunteers at events across America on and around Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, as part of its annual Great American Cleanup. In its 17th year, the Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup is the country’s largest community improvement program that benefits more than 20,000 communities each spring.

On and around Earth Day and continuing throughout the year, the Great American Cleanup engages more than 4 million volunteers and participants across the country to take action in their local communities to create positive change and lasting impact. Led by more than 600 Keep America Beautiful affiliates and hundreds of other participating community-based organizations, Great American Cleanup events and education programs help to renew parks, trails and recreation areas; clean shorelines and waterways; remove litter and debris; reduce waste and increase recycling; and plant trees, flowers and community gardens, among other activities to inspire a new generation of community stewards.

“Volunteering for a Great American Cleanup event is a great way to turn your personal passion into lasting positive change in your community,” said Jennifer M. Jehn, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “Working together in our communities, we all can play a role in creating better, more beautiful places to live. If you haven’t yet participated in a Great American Cleanup event, Earth Day is a great time of year to join us and your neighbors.”

More than 40,000 Great American Cleanup events will take place nationwide in 2015, including many on and around Earth Day. Individuals interested in participating can find a local KAB affiliate or Great American Cleanup participating organization and learn more about Earth Day-themed events such as those highlighted below:

Keep Texas Beautiful (April 11): The Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off (DMWTTO) is the single largest one-day cleanup event in the state and serves as Texas’ signature event for the Great American Cleanup.  The DMWTTO Texas Trash-Off is a partnership between Keep Texas Beautiful and the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT).

Shreveport Green, LA (April 18): Shreveport Green and Caddo Parish residents join forces in one day to rid the city of littered streets, vacant lots and waterways.

Operation Green Team, Huntsville, AL (April 18): Operation Green Team hosts its annual Earth Day at Hays Nature Preserve program that features more than 70 earth-friendly environmental exhibits and a diverse range of outdoor recreational activities, encouraging attendees to enjoy the great outdoors.

Keep Durham Beautiful, NC (April 19): Participants will enjoy “green” activities and demonstrations; learn about green practices and products at the Sustainability Expo and Earth Art Market; and enjoy great music, food and more at Durham Earth Day.

Keep Kansas City Beautiful, MO (April 22): In celebration of Earth Day, Keep Kansas City Beautiful and Sprint Center are hosting an electronics recycling and paper shredding event.

Keep Clark County Beautiful, OH (April 25): Volunteers will pick up litter, sweep sidewalks and generally spruce up downtown Springfield, Ohio, during the 6th annual Great Downtown Cleanup.

Keep Phoenix Beautiful, AZ (April 25): The Sixth Annual Earth Day Phoenix celebration at PHX Renews is bigger than ever. Produced by Keep Phoenix Beautiful, there will be a main stage with music, composting classes, educational booths, and more.

I Love A Clean San Diego, CA (April 25): I Love A Clean San Diego has a record-breaking 106 countywide locations to choose from at the annual 13th Annual Creek to Bay Cleanup, each hosted by a trained site captain who will greet you upon arrival.

Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, GA (April 25): Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful will launch a new pilot program – Great Gwinnett Wetlands – at Bromolow Creek in which it will clean up its wetlands, keep its watershed healthy, and show off its plans for a new Water Education Station in partnership with Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources and Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center.

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, NV (May 2): Volunteers will venture out into Northern Nevada to remove illegally dumped trash and pull invasive weeds throughout Washoe County during Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful’s Great Community Cleanup.

Keep Mansfield Beautiful & Keep North Attleboro Beautiful, MA (May 2):  Volunteers will fan out across Mansfield and North Attleboro to pick up the trash that litters the roadsides, parks, schools, and other public areas at the Great American Cleanup of Mansfield and the Great American Cleanup of North Attleboro.

Great American Cleanup efforts taking place from across the country are being featured on KAB’s interactive GAC social hub, which allows volunteers to share their experiences in real time through the power of social media. By using the #GAC2015 hashtag, the social hub aggregates volunteers’ tweets and Instagram photos, among other posts, to one location.

National sponsors of the 2015 Great American Cleanup include Altria, BNSF Railway, Dow, The Glad Products Company, Lowe’s and Niagara Bottling.

About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a national network of community-based affiliates, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. To learn how you can donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.

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