2017 School Beautification Grant Winners

(Dalton, GA, September 15, 2017) – Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is pleased to announce the winners of the third annual School Beautification Grants for 2017. The committee for Beautification and Community Greening established the grant program in celebration of National Planting Day, which took place September 8 and is celebrated thru the end of November.

Public and private schools in the Dalton, GA and Whitfield County were invited to apply for funding to implement a project related to planting native plants and beautifying the community. Each project aims to improve the visual aspects of the facility or provide an educational opportunity related to plants. Beautification grants range from a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $250.

This year the following ten schools were awarded a grant for their National Planting Day project:

1.    Blue Ridge Elementary School: Bringing New Life to Our Garden

2.    Dalton Middle School: Pollinator Garden for Bird Sanctuary

3.    Park Creek School: STEAM Garden Georgia Style

4.    Dalton High School: Renovation Recovery!

5.    Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy and Phoenix High School: School Beautification

6.    Antioch Elementary School: Courtyard Beautification

7.    Morris Innovative High School: First Impressions

8.    Tunnel Hill Elementary: Recreating the LeVerne Damron Reading Garden

9.    Dalton Institute of Esthetics and Cosmetology: Bringing the Beauty from Within to the Surface

10. Roan School: Garden Club Pollinator Project

Projects will be completed by December 1 and each recipient will submit a project summary by December 19 to showcase their work. Visit Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful’s website www.KeepDaltonWhtifieldBeautiful.org or follow them on Facebook to get updates on the progress of these projects.  

National Planting Day is celebrated annually by Keep America Beautiful in the fall as an opportunity to encourage volunteers to plant native species restoring ecological balance to the environment while creating greener, more beautiful communities. Learn more about this event at www.kab.org.

2017 School Beautification Grants Available Thru Keep Dalton Whitfield Beautiful

(Dalton, GA, August 1, 2017) – Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is pleased to announce the availability of School Beautification Grants for Fall 2017. The committee for Beautification and Community Greening has established mini-grants in celebration of National Planting Day. Beautification grants may range from a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $250.

Public and private schools in the Dalton, GA and Whitfield County area are invited to apply for funding that can help implement a project related to planting native plants. A school club, a single classroom, whole grade level or the entire school may organize a project and apply for a grant.

National Planting Day is celebrated annually by Keep America Beautiful in the fall as an opportunity to encourage volunteers to plant native species restoring ecological balance to the environment while creating greener, more beautiful communities. Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is making these grants available to improve the visual aspects of our community through projects that beautify and clean the environment.

Knowing that children play a very important part in making this happen we want them to reap the benefits by participating in a project for their very own school. Beautification projects could include establishing or supporting a school garden, planting flowers in an outdoor space, or using plants for educational purposes.

Grant applications must be submitted online no later than September 8 at www.KeepDaltonWhitfieldBeautiful.org using the form on the Beautification Grant Application page.  Previous projects from 2015 and 2016 can be seen on the School Beautification Projects Page. 

For questions regarding the form or any aspects of your proposed project call executive director Liz Swafford at 706-278-5001. Grant winners will be announced September 15. Projects must be completed by December 1 and a project summary and photos are to be submitted by December 19. 

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Receives Awards for 2016 Activities

Pictured are Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful board members with the awards for 2016. Front row (left to right): Karey Williams, Liz Swafford, Anthony Cline. Middle row: Patricia Edwards, Scott Delay. Top row: Phillip Pfeifer, Chris Cochran, Dirk Verhoeff, Jennifer Jefferies, Joe Thomas, Aaron Marcelli, Clyde Taylor.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, a local non-profit dedicated to building a more vibrant community has received two awards in recognition of its activities in 2016. The group received the Governor’s Circle Award on behalf of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation, and the President’s Circle Award on behalf of Keep America Beautiful. Both awards recognize exemplary performance by certified affiliates in reducing litter, minimizing waste and greening local communities.

The statewide award recipients were presented at the State Capitol as part of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation’s Annual Legislative Day in February. The President’s Circle awards were presented at the Keep America Beautiful National Conference in January.

“The affiliates receiving the Governor’s Circle Award represent the best of community improvement efforts”, said Sarah Visser, Executive Director of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation, “they are doing the hard work every day to keep their communities economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable”.

“One of Keep America Beautiful’s most effective tools is the work of our grassroots network of affiliate organizations, which has an impact on millions of Americans each year,” said Keep America Beautiful COO Becky Lyons. “Our affiliates are providing real solutions that help create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.”

Last year the volunteers and board members facilitated several community activities including the annual Christmas Tree and Electronics Recycling event, beautification grants to local schools, the Magic of Recycling show for elementary schools, Adopt a Mile cleanups, and the annual river cleanup. They also provided litter prevention and beautification information to residents at the Prater’s Mill Fair, Business Expo, and Dalton State, among other activities.

Visit www.KeepDaltonWhitfieldBeautiful.org to register for the KDWB newsletter, follow us on Facebook, or call 706-278-5001 to find out how you can volunteer or participate in upcoming events.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Establishes Endowment Fund

Pictured L-R: David Aft, president of the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, meet with board members from Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful recently to establish an endowment fund. Also pictured are board members Clyde Taylor, Phillip Pfeifer, Liz Swafford, Anthony Cline, Aaron Marcelli, Patricia Edwards.

Dalton, GA – Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful established an endowment fund with the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia in February thanks to a matching grant challenge from an anonymous donor. Endowment fund distributions will provide long term support for the non-profit focused on ending litter, beautifying communities, and improving recycling.

“Establishing the endowment fund has allowed us to diversify our income sources ensuring that our mission continues regardless of changes in annual fundraising.” said Patricia Edwards, chairperson for the endowment fund committee. “We are thankful for all of the individuals that contributed towards the matching grant goal. Thanks to you we were able to meet the challenge. We are especially grateful to our anonymous benefactor for giving us this opportunity to guarantee that Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful programs continue long into the future.”

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful began in 1989 as the Dalton-Whitfield Clean and Beautiful Commission, and soon after became an official Keep America Beautiful affiliate, and member of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation. The organization is now an independent non-profit with the same mission - to engage local residents in creating a more vibrant community. Board members and volunteers are proud to be a part of a nation-wide effort advancing education and collective action to ensure that beauty is our lasting legacy starting from the local level.

Recent activities have included the launch of the new educational campaign “Love it, don’t trash it!” #LiveLitterFree, a refresh of the Adopt-a-Mile program, unveiling of a mural downtown, beautification mini-grants for schools, and the presentation of the Magic of Recycling magic show at seven elementary schools. Longtime community events include the annual Christmas Tree and Electronics Recycling Day, and the Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup.

Anyone interested in helping Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful grow their endowment is encouraged to send their donation to the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, noting Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful.

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Contact: Liz Swafford, Executive Director

            Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful

(706) 226-6211

Lswafford@dwswa.org

Volunteers Remove Litter from Conasauga Watershed During Make a Difference Day

Girl Scout Troop 14603 was at Lakeshore Park in Dalton where volunteers helped to remove more than two-thousand pounds of garbage during the river cleanup.

Dalton State College students and more than 60 volunteers removed litter from Lakeshore Park on Saturday, October 22 during the annual Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup.

Volunteers at Mill Creek Tributary and Underwood Apartments in Dalton removed more than two-thousand pounds of litter and illegally dumped tires from the watershed during Make a Difference Day.

Pictured are only a few of the 35 volunteers that helped to remove litter at Holly Creek in Murray County during the 2016 Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup event.

(Dalton, GA, November 21, 2016) – Used tires, litter, a car bumper, and an illegally dumped mattress were part of the 10,672 pounds of garbage removed by volunteers during the 22st Annual Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup Event on Saturday, October 22. The annual event took place during United Way’s “Make a Difference Day”.

Two-hundred and ninety-nine volunteers spent the morning removing trash, debris, and invasive plants from eleven locations in Whitfield and Murray counties. The amount of time donated by volunteers during this year’s event, approximately 1,196 hours, is valued at $25,714. “Volunteers that come out and participate are of all ages and walks of life so it is a wonderful opportunity to get to know other people while doing a service for your community.” Said Amelia Atwell, an event participant.

Sites included in this year’s event were the Conasauga River at Carlton Petty Road Bridge, at Highway 2 bridge, and at Lower King’s Bridge and Norton Bridge. Also, Holly Creek in Murray County on the Chattahoochee National Forest, the Mill Creek tributary in the City of Dalton, Coahulla Creek at Prater’s Mill, and Lakeshore Park and Al Rollins Park in the City of Dalton.

Garbage found at each site was the result illegal dumping, irresponsible abandonment after using a site, or accidental loss of items from a vehicle with an unsecured load. Event participants encourage the public to pickup litter when they see it; properly secure loads on vehicles; take out what they take in at outdoor recreation areas; and properly dispose of tires and bulky items at an approved drop-off location.

“Be a good example for your children and others around you. If you see trash pick it up. If you see someone else throw out trash, ask them to pick it up.” Added Shell Underwood, longtime volunteer. Small efforts from everyone will result in a cleaner, healthier, and more beautiful environment. 

The following sponsors provided the funds needed to purchase t-shirts for volunteers, cleanup supplies, and hauled off the garbage: J+J Flooring Group, Shaw Industries, Dalton Utilities, Conasauga River Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, Georgia's Rivers Alive, Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, and Whitfield County Public Works.

Also, the following organizations helped coordinated the event: Conasauga River Alliance, Dalton State College, Dalton Utilities, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Limestone Valley RC & D, and Whitfield and Murray County Extension.

The Conasauga River, one of the six most biologically diverse freshwater river systems in the United States, supports twenty-four endangered species and a dozen other imperiled species, including the Southern Pigtoe mussel and the Conasauga logperch, a fish found nowhere else in the world.

The Conasauga Watershed Clean-up has long been a participant of Rivers Alive, one of the South’s largest volunteer efforts to beautify water resources. So far this year, 8,259 volunteers have participated in 126 clean-up events through out the state and have removed 335,949 pounds of garbage from 629 miles of Georgia waterways. For more information about efforts in other areas or the statewide campaign visit www.RiversAlive.org.