In 2017, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful was proud to announce that it had been awarded a $20,000 Community Improvement Grant through the Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant Program. This year, the environmentally-focused nonprofit is doubly proud to announce that it has been awarded the grant once again. In 2017, the funds were used to establish a Plant it Forward Program at participating Gwinnett County Public Schools. In 2018, the funds will be used to kick off the Food Waste Warriors Program - designed to pair a high school with an elementary school. Using food waste audit procedures outlined by the World Wildlife Foundation, Food Waste Warriors will begin with a pilot program at several local elementary schools before it’s opened to any school in Gwinnett County that wishes to run a Food Waste Audit.

The 2018 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant Program engages local volunteers, working alongside Lowe’s Heroes volunteers, to take action on projects that focus on critical, local needs. In addition to GCB’s grant initiative, Lowe’s is supporting more than 40 other Keep America Beautiful grant-funded community service projects in 2018 as well as Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup. Since the partnership began in 2011, Lowe’s has contributed nearly $8 million, with more than 2,100 Lowe’s Heroes volunteers helping Keep America Beautiful improve local communities.

“These targeted grant projects will provide significant benefits in many areas of the country, both urban and rural, that often are neglected,” said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Helen Lowman. “Our network of affiliates has been particularly creative in using these grassroots grants to develop and deliver programs that embrace their community members, while transforming often neglected public spaces into beautiful places.”

Lowe’s director of community relations, Julie Yenicheck, weighed in on the inspiration behind the Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant Program, “At Lowe’s, we want to help people love where they live in the communities where our employees and customers live and work. Our commitment to community investment doesn’t stop at charitable giving. We’re proud of our Lowe’s Heroes volunteer involvement and the difference they have made nationwide. Loving where you live extends beyond walls and fences, and we applaud Keep America Beautiful’s vision.”

Schelly Marlatt, Executive Director for Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful wholeheartedly agrees with applauding KAB’s vision and had this to say about the grant, “We are extremely fortunate to be affiliated with such a visionary and vital national organization at Keep America Beautiful. I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be chosen a second year in a row by KAB and Lowe’s for their Community Improvement Grant. It tells my team and our partners that both of those organizations really believe in what we’re doing with our local school system through programs like the Plant It Forward program and now the Food Waste Warriors program. After we’ve run our initial tests, we will develop a special Food Waste Warriors kit with instructions, so schools can conduct their audits on their own. Once completed, participating school will be able to apply with us to receive funding to implement some of the improvements they identified after reviewing their audit results. We will be including the 2018-2019 Green Youth Advisory Council in this effort, along with members of Gwinnett County’s Youth Commission, to be champions for schools in their area.”

Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Green Youth Advisory Council Members for the 2018-2019 School Year include:

Archer High School – Kamal McAllister and Sarah Parker

Berkmar High School – Jackie Sanchez

Brookwood High School – Jeslyn Kim, Mitch Mullin, Eric Phung and Will Skillen

Dacula High School – Theresa Argott and Malika Montgomery

Discovery High School – Santiago Atuesta and Rafel Perez-Rodriguez

Gwinnett School of Math Science and Technology – Johanna Villegas

Gwinnett Online – Abigail Mathews and Michelle van Rooyen

Lanier High School – Nayeli Hernandez

Meadowcreek High School – Hanh Bui

Norcross High School – Jasing Yang and Ning-Ning Jao

Parkview High School – Kristin Partlow

Peachtree Ridge High School – Hassan Siddiqui and Gabriela Maduro Salvarrey