Paint Iowa Beautiful Grant is NOW OPEN for Applications! |
|
Keep Iowa Beautiful and Diamond Vogel Paint are announcing the 2021 Paint Iowa Beautiful program. The program provides free paint to a wide variety of community projects throughout Iowa. Administered through Keep Iowa Beautiful with the paint provided by the Diamond Vogel Paint Company.
“The partnership with Keep Iowa Beautiful allows Diamond Vogel to assist and work with many local volunteers that help build communities, making Iowa the number one state in the nation to live,” said Doug Vogel, Vice President, Marketing, of the Iowa based company. This is a great opportunity for Iowans to improve the attractiveness and beautiful of their community.”
Kevin Techau, Executive Director of Keep Iowa Beautiful added, “The Paint Iowa Beautiful program helps increase our assistance to communities, neighborhoods, historic projects and volunteer organizations improve attractiveness and beauty across Iowa.”
In the 18-year partnership with Keep Iowa Beautiful, Diamond Vogel has awarded over 11,165 gallons of paint for 1,000 community projects in Iowa.
The online grant application is now open to Iowans and can be completed and submitted by February 15, 2021.
|
|
Announcing the 20th Anniversary Keep Iowa Beautiful Photography Contest! |
|
Every year, Keep Iowa Beautiful aims to raise awareness of Iowa’s rural and urban beauty with our Annual Photography Contest. The photo contest offers both amateur and experienced photographers an opportunity to tell Iowa’s story in a fun, engaging way!
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of our founding this year, Keep Iowa Beautiful has created an EXPANDED photo contest that includes cash awards totaling over $2,000! We’ve also introduced FIVE new categories to the contest:
- Iowa Landscape
- Iowa Water
- Iowa Cities
- Iowans in Action
- Iowa Wildlife
You don’t want to miss out. Grab your camera, explore the great state of Iowa, and take that winning shot! The contest submission deadline is December 18th, so don’t wait.
We can’t wait to see Iowa’s beauty through your lens!
|
|
America Recycles Day is Coming! |
|
America Recycles Day®, held on and around Nov. 15, is quickly approaching! America Recycles Day (ARD) is a Keep America Beautiful® national program and the only nationally recognized day dedicated to celebrating and promoting recycling.
This year’s theme focuses on individual recycling action and behavior. To participate, we urge you to commit to reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle on America Recycles Day – and every day – by taking the #BeRecycled Pledge. Take and share this pledge with friends, family, and colleagues here.
|
|
Downtown Dubuque Mural Honors Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
|
|
Nicaraguan artist Luis Valle feels a special connection to Ginsburg since he grew up in a family filled with women. When he received word of Justice Ginsburg’s death, he felt a need to honor her with his art. A woman offered one of her house’s walls to Valle to paint a mural honoring Justice Ginsburg, and Valle got to work!
“More than anything political, she represents something that a lot of women can look up to,” Valle said. “Somebody that was able to make it to the Supreme Court and has also fought for a lot of women’s rights and fought for a lot of minorities.”
The mural shows a halo around Justice Ginsburg. Valle said this represents his belief that she is looking down and protecting those on Earth.
|
|
Iowa Derelict Building Grant Process |
|
The Derelict Building Program, available through the Iowa DNR is available for Iowa towns for 5,000 or fewer residents’ to address neglected commercial or public structures that have sat vacant for at least 6 months.
The Program’s main focus is landfill diversion through the recycling and reuse of building materials and the elimination of hazards both inside and out posed by these empty structures. Since the establishment of the program in 2011 through 2019, the program has assisted 153 communities, diverted over 70,604 tons of materials and saved over $2.6 million in landfill disposal costs.
FY22 application deadline is Friday, February 26, 2021 for applicants who are seeking funding assistance with conducting asbestos inspections, asbestos abatement, structural engineering analysis, phase I and phase II site assessments, building deconstruction and building renovation expenses.
Learn more about the Derelict Building Program on the Iowa DNR website:
|
|
Check Out the New Sign in Laurens! |
|
Have you seen the NEW Laurens sign? The new Laurens welcome sign represents current service organizations and area churches!
The Laurens Hometown Pride Committee secured grants from the Pocahontas County Foundation and Casey’s General Store to help make this project possible. Service groups, area organizations, and local churches also pitched in to help beautify the community!
|
|
|
When you see litter happening on Iowa’s roadways from a vehicle, Call 1-888-665-4887
Please provide as much detail about the incident as possible:
- License plate number
- Time and specific location (street & city)
- What was thrown from the vehicle
- A vehicle description (color, make and model)
Call 1.888.NOLITTR (1-888-665-4887) to report littering from a vehicle.
|
|
Social Media Submissions
Keep Iowa Beautiful wants to share your community’s good news!
|
|
Are you proud of a completed project in your town? Do you want to show off a new mural in your downtown? Did you host a fun, exciting event for your community? We want to know about it!
Click on the button below to share short descriptions of events, projects, or news from your town! You can include pictures and captions as well. Keep Iowa Beautiful will share your post on our social media!
|
|
Your Support Matters!
Keep Iowa Beautiful is a non-profit organization and, as such, relies on your support to ensure the success of our environmental education and community outreach programs.
Donations will help KIB's efforts to support our community. Any amount is valued and appreciated.
Donations can be made online or checks can be mailed to our office:
Keep Iowa Beautiful
2910 Westown Pkwy #302,
West Des Moines, IA 50266
|
|
KEEP IOWA BEAUTIFUL
2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 302 | West Des Moines, IA 50266
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
