KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL HONORS 11 AFFILIATES FOR EXCEPTIONAL EFFORTS DURING THE 2002 GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP

Eleven Keep America Beautiful affiliates will be honored for their outstanding efforts during the 2002 Great American Cleanup in awards ceremonies on December 7, during Keep America Beautifuls 49th annual National Conference in Washington, D.C. Ten affiliates will be honored for outstanding sponsor support, and one affiliate will be honored for best documented cleanup.

Eleven Keep America Beautiful affiliates will be honored for their outstanding efforts during the 2002 Great American Cleanup in awards ceremonies on December 7, during Keep America Beautifuls 49th annual National Conference in Washington, D.C. Ten affiliates will be honored for outstanding sponsor support, and one affiliate will be honored for best documented cleanup.

The Great American Cleanup is Keep America Beautifuls signature program, and is our countrys largest annual community improvement program. In 2002 this program mobilized more than 2.3 million volunteers in nearly 14,000 communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Winnipeg, Canada, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Great American Cleanup inspires towns, cities, counties and states to improve their public spaces, roadways and waterways for these and future generations," said G. Raymond Empson, President of Keep America Beautiful. These Great American Cleanup award winners exemplify the best of the best in making our world a better place."

The winners are:

Outstanding Sponsor Support:

Hancock County Commissioners Special Projects, Findlay, OH
Keep Akron Beautiful, Akron, OH
Keep Islip Clean, Inc., Islip, NY
Keep Knoxville Beautiful, Knoxville, TN
Keep Nebraska Beautiful, Lincoln, NE
Keep North Platte/Lincoln County Beautiful, North Platte, NE
Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful, Rio Rancho, NM
Keep Wickliffe Beautiful, Wickliffe, OH
Lorain County Beautiful, Elyria, OH
Shreveport Green, Shreveport, LA

Best Documented Cleanup:

Keep Tennessee Beautiful, Memphis, TN

For a complete listing of all Keep America Beautiful 2002 award winners in all categories, as well as information on our awards program, please visit the Keep America Beautiful website at www.kab.org.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose network of more than 500 local, statewide and international affiliate programs educates individuals about litter prevention and ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and properly manage waste materials. Through partnerships and strategic alliances with citizens, businesses and government, Keep America Beautifuls programs motivate millions of volunteers annually to clean up, beautify and improve their neighborhoods, thereby creating healthier, safer and more livable community environments.