Keep Georgia Beautiful recognized Keep Cobb Beautiful, county officials and local volunteers with nine different awards – including affiliate and executive director of the year – at a ceremony in Macon, Ga., Dec. 6.

Kimberly White, the executive director of Keep Cobb Beautiful, pointed out the important teamwork KCB has managed with others.

“I’m really proud of our affiliate and what we’ve been able to accomplish,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of great things over the past year...and I’m honored that the State of Georgia recognized our collaborative efforts to make a positive impact in our community.”

The honors included:

• Affiliate of the Year Award: Keep Cobb Beautiful
Honors an affiliate and its volunteers for their efforts to create a more beautiful, cleaner and improved environment. Affiliates are scored on program activities in beautification and community greening, litter prevention and community revitalization, recycling and waste reduction and environmental education. Specifically, Keep Cobb Beautiful was selected for improving its litter index score, tree planting program, school gardening program and increasing participation rates at its community recycling events.

• Affiliate Innovation: Keep Cobb Beautiful
The award given to affiliates for new, unique ideas or methods; nontraditional approaches to solving challenges; or something that hasn’t been done before. In this case, the new Hefty Energy Bag program.

• State Award: Community Improvement – Keep Cobb Beautiful
Recognizes efforts of a government agency who have actively both worked to change littering attitudes and behaviors and minimized the impact of waste and promoted recycling in a community.

• State Award: Waste Reduction and Recycling – Keep Cobb Beautiful
The organization’s biannual community recycling events involved collecting electronics, textiles, polystyrene and paper shredding.

• State Award: Litter Prevention Category – South Cobb Lions Club
Recognizes efforts statewide of a civic group who change littering attitudes and behaviors in a community.

• Executive Director of the Year Award: Kimberly White
Recognizes outstanding leadership, commitment, determination and dedication to the Keep America Beautiful mission, ideals and process.

• Law Enforcement Official of the Year Award: Cobb County Police Officer Nathalie Jegg
Jegg was recognized for helping engage the community and initating an Adopt-A-Complex program.

• Public Works Employee: Dr. Jonathan A. Jenkins
Honors an individual who is directly employed in solid waste or related activities by a city or county public works department and the nominee demonstrates an ongoing commitment in his or her job to promote environmental sustainability and support the mission of Keep America Beautiful.

• Elected Official: Commissioner Lisa Cupid
Honors a local, state or federal elected official who has made a strong commitment to the community environment by supporting litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling, community greening and/or local affiliate activities.