Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Receives $325,000 Grant Award from Lilly Endowment

INDIANAPOLIS - (January 23, 2012) Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB) announced today that it has received a $325,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to continue work of community greening through programs involving youth employment, urban forestry, volunteer engagement, education, litter and community beautification.

Funding from the Endowment grant will enable KIB to forward its mission within six major program areas:

• IPL Project GreenSpace: Through guidance, planning assistance, training, tools, plant materials, and supplemental volunteers KIB will help neighborhood groups plant trees, turn vacant lots into pocket parks, create community gardens, beautify gateways into neighborhoods and enhance greenspaces. These projects help create community assets, connect neighbors to each other and encourage investment in their neighborhood, as well as improve the local environment.

• KIB Clubs: KIB will provide youth with hands-on environmental learning which fosters appreciation for our natural habitat and understanding for conservation of our urban environment. KIB will train teachers within 12 schools to utilize hands on projects and work with schools, teachers and youth to mobilize environmental clubs which will meet regularly to lead environmental projects.

• NeighborWoods: KIB’s urban forestry program uses research-based social and environmental indicators to target and engage neighborhoods with the greatest need for trees. In addition, all Marion County neighborhoods and community groups are eligible to apply for free trees for their neighborhood.

• Youth Tree Team: KIB will employ high school youth to water, mulch, weed, prune, and collect litter at project sites. Additionally, enrichment activities instill leadership and civic engagement.

• Great Indy Clean Up: A national initiative to promote community clean ups from April through October, KIB will work with approximately 300 neighborhood groups on community clean ups to pick up millions of pounds of trash and litter each year.

• Adopt-a-Block: A grassroots initiative to eliminate litter, Adopt-A-Block spurs community leadership and often yields higher neighborhood engagement in the form of block clubs and crime watches.

For more information on KIB’s efforts to beautify the city and to learn about KIB programs, please visit www.kibi.org.

About Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB)
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization uniting people to build community and transform public spaces through aesthetic and environmental improvement. In 2011, KIB worked with more than 46,000 volunteers on over 600 community projects. To learn more, visit www.kibi.org, or follow us on Twitter @kibiorg and like us on Facebook @kibiorg.

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