Executive Director Report
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Hope you are trying to stay cool and enjoying your summer. I know many of you have continued to have your Great American Cleanup events — this takes true dedication to brave the Mississippi heat.
Keep Mississippi Beautiful is thankful to Van Zyverden and Debbie Pearson, in Meridian, for their generous donation of flower bulbs that many of our affiliates have been planting. We also want to thank Ridgeland Public Works for allowing us to store the bulbs for distribution. Thanks to many of you who have shared your photos. Mississippi is blooming beautiful.
Photo: A community partnership with First Lady Elee Reeves in Vicksburg helped kickoff Miss Mississippi pageant week and the initiative "Mississippi Serves — A Day to Volunteer”. Pictured: Sarah Kountouris; Miss Mississippi 2021 Holly Brand; Miss Mississippi's Outstanding Teen 2022 Cameron Davis; and Maddie Reeves.
Congratulations to all of our award winners who were honored during our 29th Annual Awards Luncheon. Twenty-eight Affiliate Directors were presented with their affiliate's President Circle and Circle of Excellence awards. We want to thank our First Lady Elee Reeves, MDOT Commissioner Willie Simmons, and MDOT Executive Director Brad White, who joined us and helped make our Keep Mississippi Beautiful 29th Annual Awards Luncheon a huge success.
Jan and I have certainly enjoyed being on the road a lot this summer, visiting our new affiliates. We certified four new affiliates and pre-certified five future affiliates. Keep Mississippi Beautiful is one of the fastest growing affiliate networks within Keep America Beautiful. Soon we will be fifty-nine affiliates strong.
Keep Mississippi Beautiful congratulates our good friend and Keep Mississippi Board of Directors' member Mark Williams on his retirement from Mississippi DEQ, Mark has always been willing to help our Affiliates. We also want to congratulate MDOT Anti-Litter Coordinator Lorrie Redden on her retirement from MDOT. We know we can look forward to Mark and Lorrie's continued involvement as strong volunteers.
Keep Mississippi Beautiful wants to say welcome to Jenny Lawson, the new President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. We are hopeful that Jenny will be visiting Mississippi in the future.
Jan and I hope each of you have a Happy Fourth of July — stay safe and cool.
Remember, Keep Mississippi Clean and Green!
Sarah Kountouris
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29th Annual Keep Mississippi Beautiful Awards
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Our 29th Annual Awards Program, held at the Jackson Country Club, celebrated our affiliates and partners on another successful year of work "Keeping Mississippi Beautiful". Affiliate directors, representing their boards, committees, and communities, are pictured.
Congratulations again to all of our nominees and award winners.
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Keep Mississippi Beautiful Conference
Creates Sparks
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Keep Mississippi Beautiful affiliate members took home innovative ideas and new connections from the conference held April 29 at Holmes Community College in Ridgeland. Keynote speaker, former Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale, opened the conference with humorous and poignant storytelling. Ridgeland High School Jazz Band dazzled with their soulful sounds; and Isaac Nicholson, the central regional director from Keep America Beautiful, presented important KAB information. We appreciate our board members for supporting this training opportunity and for their assistance and attendance. Over 60 people participated!
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Keep Mississippi Beautiful Teacher Workshops
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Keep Mississippi Beautiful executive director Sarah Kountouris and assistant director Jan Richardson have been invited to present at teacher workshops this summer. These workshops are coordinated by Soil and Water Conservation District administrators. Our first stop this summer was Yazoo City, where we spent the morning with 20 teachers, sharing lessons from the Keep America Beautiful Waste in Place curriculum. We think our teachers are "The Bees Knees"! Please contact us if your affiliate or school needs environmental lesson plan ideas.
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Belzoni Great American Cleanup State Kickoff: Together we Grow
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Keep Belzoni Beautiful was selected to host the 2022 Keep Mississippi Beautiful Great American Cleanup State Kickoff this year. On May 13, we met at the Belzoni Community Garden, aptly named "Together We Grow", to implement the team's vision for phase II of the garden. A butterfly garden bed was filled with flower bulbs, the local garden club landscaped the garden entrance, volunteers planted vegetables in several dozen raised beds and a nearby lot was cleaned. Benches, a picnic table, a gravel parking lot, a storage area and a pergola round out the hardscape of the garden. Chandra Hines, the executive director of Keep Belzoni Beautiful, and Assistant Community Development Officer at Guaranty Bank & Trust Company, said the community garden serves as a site for many activities. "A Farmers Market is ongoing," Hines said, "and cooking demonstrations and nutrition classes will be held here as well." Phase III, planned for the fall, will include tree plantings and maintenance. Follow Keep Belzoni Beautiful's Facebook page to learn about future volunteer opportunities at their community garden and to see a list of sponsors, who helped make the event possible.
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Welcome to the KMB and KAB Family
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Keep Mississippi Beautiful staff and Keep America Beautiful national trainers Sue Smith and Isaac Nicholson certified four new Mississippi affiliates in April and May.
Welcome
Keep Ripley Beautiful
Exec. Director, Elizabeth Behm
Keep Greenwood/Leflore County Beautiful Exec. Director, Beth Stevens
Keep Crystal Springs Beautiful Exec. Director, Felicia Thompson
Keep Fulton Beautiful, Exec. Director, Mayor Emily Quinn
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Counties and cities in Mississippi taking the steps toward affiliation are:
Booneville
Chickasaw County
Iuka
Pearl River County
Stone County
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Keep America Beautiful welcomes new CEO
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Keep America Beautiful is pleased to announce Jennifer Lawson as the new President and Chief Executive Officer. She assumed the role May 16.
Lawson was Chief Civic Innovation Officer and Corporate Citizenship Leader at Points of Light, an international nonprofit focused on engaging more people and resources in solving social problems through voluntary service. of networks of more than 400 nonprofits and companies, representing communities in more than 160 locations in 39 countries.
“Jenny’s experience, enthusiasm, and leadership qualities exemplify what we targeted for the new CEO,” said Greg Jozwiak, Chair of the Board of Directors for Keep America Beautiful. “We are excited for Jenny to work with the great team, strong affiliate network, and committed board at Keep America Beautiful to reach new heights of positive impact to end littering, improve recycling, and beautify America’s communities.”
"I am honored to have the privilege to lead this iconic organization," said Lawson.
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Important Report Dates
July 1: KAB 2022-23 reporting year begins.
August 1: Affiliate's Keep America Beautiful annual reports are due on the KAB Dashboard. Contact Isaac Nicholson at KAB with Dashboard questions and technical issues or our office for reporting questions and requirements. These reports are required by Keep America Beautiful and Keep Mississippi Beautiful to attain and maintain President's Circle and Circle of Excellence.
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