Your support of Keep Akron Beautiful has helped us continue to serve the Akron community with our mission of improving Akron's quality of life through beautification and responsible environmental management. Keep Akron Beautiful brings out the best in what Akron has to offer for a lasting, positive impact on our region. It has been Keep Akron Beautiful's pleasure to serve you this year through: removing Akron's litter - kab has been working very hard to remove litter on the streets of Akron. 18,035 volunteers spent time removing 60.6 tons of trash and 85 tires during clean up Akron month-april. Over 39 tons of litter were removed from city streets, expressways, parks, and roadsides. 21 illegal dumps were remediated, and 35 graffiti sites were abated. People become more disobedient in environments plagued by litter and graffiti; research has shown. This past year, we worked closely with the Akron police department to overlay our litter map and their crime maps. It is not surprising that the two match up perfectly- where there is litter in our city, there is crime. However, we have been focusing our efforts on removing litter in the worst areas of our city. When the litter is removed, crime rates go down. To the right, you will see students from st. vincent- st. mary high school who are dedicated to removing litter and dumping at the glendale steps. Beautiful blooms - kab planted a total of 20 professionally maintained flowerscapes, 70 great streets planters, and 64 volunteer adopt-a-sites this year. We installed a new bed at thornton and dart and the Akron police station building. We are working on renovation plans for alexander park. Our new adopt-a-site (pictured to the left) is a showstopper at mull avenue circle. Thanks to our partners Akron's finest mulch, dominion energy Ohio, house of larose, alpha phi alpha homes, the city of Akron & st. sebastian parish & school. Recycle right campaign - kab worked with the city to address contamination at the curb through the recycle right campaign, again this summer for ten weeks. After many years, glass recycling is back in Akron with five locations available across the city, glass is infinitely recyclable if we can capture it without contaminating the supply with other recyclables and waste. Check out the large purple bins, pictured to the right, and visit the bins to recycle your glass. Beautification watch awards - kab thanked property and business owners by sending 3,995 beautification watch awards to "standout" properties all throughout our city. This is a huge thank you for neighbors and businesses who do their part to Keep Akron clean and Beautiful. Beautification projects - 21 projects were completed utilizing the community pride trailer, and litter & illegal dump cleanup trailer, in all ten wards of the city of Akron. Daily litter cleanup - over 39 tons of litter were removed from city streets, expressways, parks, and roadsides. 21 illegal dumps were remediated, and 35 graffiti sites were abated. Did you know Keep Akron Beautiful is the only entity in Akron focused on picking up litter? We are short staffed just like everyone else and can use help with volunteer litter cleanups. If you are interested in volunteering, please check out our website at www.keepakronbeautiful.org or get in touch with community outreach manager, emma segedy, at
[email protected]. Your philanthropic support of Keep Akron Beautiful is a one-of-a-kind investment that enhances the quality of life in our great city. Imagine if the agency, who mobilizes community service workers and thousands of volunteers, didn't exist. Imagine if the 39 tons of trash removed by our crew still lingered on our streets. Consistent cleanup efforts are important because litter damages our neighborhoods, our environment, and our health. Neighborhoods where vacant lots were cleaned up experience reductions in gun violence, burglaries and drops in nuisances like illegal dumping.