Akron, Ohio News Release...

Flora flock cleans up at meeting

(This article appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal on December 19, 1999)

Keep Akron Beautiful

• 1999 Great American Cleanup around city wins volunteer group national award at conference

By Carl Chancellor
Beacon Journal staff writer

Broken and discarded furniture, rusted home appliances, bald tires and sundry other junk pulled from the Little Cuyahoga River near Akron's Elizabeth Park homes last spring –along with tons of other trash and debris from around the city – proved to be the bounty that helped earn Keep Akron Beautiful a top award last weekend in Washington D.C.

Representatives from 480 affiliates of Keep Akron Beautiful gathered in Washington for the organization's 46^th National Conference to honor outstanding groups and individuals for their achievements in the areas of litter prevention, beautification, recycling and environmental protection.

Keep Akron Beautiful was one of five affiliates to receive the 1999 Great American Cleanup Award. Keep Akron Beautiful was recognized for its weeklong, all-city cleanup held April 24 through May 1.

"We had simply terrific support for the cleanup. We had more than 7,000 volunteers for the week at 77 public sites all over town in all 10 wards," said Paula Davis, executive director of Keep Akron Beautiful.

Cleaning crews were made up of members from local churches, civic clubs, Boy and Girl Scout troops, block clubs, school organizations, fraternities, sororities and even a motorcycle club.

Primarily recognized for its beautification project – like the 24 flower beds it has planted and tended around Akron for the last 19 years – the nonprofit Keep Akron Beautiful has also focused on community cleaning efforts.

Using volunteers, it has eliminated illegal dumps, removed graffiti, cleaned up litter in and around pools, lakes and rivers, and cleaned roadsides and vacant lots.

"We're real happy about the award. Eight years ago we came in second place. But since then, it's been sort of a dry spell," said Davis.

She praised Keep Akron Beautiful's volunteer force.

"The volunteer support and our many sponsors really helped us to get the most out of our $330,000 budget this year," Davis said.

The agency gets about a third of its money from the City of Akron, a fourth from the state and the balance from fund-raising and grants, public and private.