This year we had an exciting Great American Cleanup State Kickoff Event with Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and First Lady of Mississippi Elee Reeves kicking off the Great American Cleanup season, partnered with Keep Jackson Beautiful on the steps of our Mississippi State Capitol.

Keep Mississippi Beautiful honors individuals and organizations throughout Mississippi who are making a difference and this year we couldn’t think of a better way than to have our Governor and First Lady present these awards on the steps of our State Capital.

Having these two events linked together will show how a hands-on approach to community improvement serves as a catalyst for ongoing civic engagement and promotes personal responsibility.

During the cleanup event, 103 volunteers dispersed to various sites across our capital city and planted 8 trees and 200 flower bulbs, weed eating and picking up over 3,700 pounds of litter. This event totaled to over $10,700 in benefits from volunteer hours and in-kind and monetary donations.

We appreciate our sponsors who made this event possible:

Nucor Steel Jackson, Inc.

Mississippi Power

REAL Christian Foundation

Mississippi Beverage Association

Clark Beverage Group, Inc.

Lowe’s Home Improvement

Our annual awards luncheon honors Mississippians who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their communities in the areas of litter prevention, recycling, waste reduction, beautification and community improvement.
Pictured above are the 2019 KMB local affiliates. Additional photos can be found here.

We would like to thank Commissioner Andy Gipson, Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce for giving the innvocation as well as saying a few comments on his support of our organization as well as our local affiliates. Thank you to Sue Smith, Keep America Beautiful Affiliate Director and Keep Chicago Beautiful Director, for giving an inspiring keynote address. Thank you to our First Lady Deborah Bryant and Keep Mississippi Beautiful Board Chairman, Cindy Duvall, for presenting the awards.

Congratulations to all of 2019 award winners:

Keep Mississippi Beautiful (KMB) and its community-based affiliates recently took home several top awards from Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading organization for litter prevention, recycling, and beautification. Mississippians across the state were recognized by Keep America Beautiful at its national conference on Feb. 7.

“Mississippi continues to show the nation that we are serious about fighting litter, promoting recycling and beautifying our communities,” KMB Executive Director Sarah Kountouris said. “We are proud of the Mississippians who were recognized by Keep America Beautiful.”

Recipients include:

• Jeannine May won the Sue Smith Professional Leadership Award for building and sustaining an exceptional affiliate. Jeannine serves as Affiliate Director of Keep the Rez Beautiful, known for its efforts to improve the water quality and beauty of the Ross Barnett Reservoir and its shores. Jeannine is the fifth Mississippian to win this award since it was created in the 1980s.
• Brett Rushing won the Young Professional Award, which recognizes an outstanding volunteer, under the age of 40, who demonstrates exceptional leadership in helping his or her community. Dr. Rushing was integral in KMB’s launch of the Wildflower Trails of Mississippi project, and he has worked with KMB and KAB affiliates across the state to support wildflower plantings. Brett is the second Mississippian to win this award since it was created in 2013.
• Keep Starkville Beautiful won the Bill Nash Award, which honors an affiliate less than three years old for exceptional success. Since its launch in 2017, Keep Starkville Beautiful has made significant investments to end littering, beautify public spaces, and improve recycling. Affiliate Director Amy Counterman accepted the award. Keep Starkville Beautiful is the third Mississippi affiliate to win this award in recent years.
• Keep Mississippi Beautiful and Keep Ridgeland Beautiful both won Innovation Partnership Awards. KMB was recognized as a state affiliate for its new anti-litter campaign, “Don’t Litter… Can It Mississippi,” created in partnership with Dak Prescott and Pepsi. KMB Executive Director Sarah Kountouris accepted the award. Keep Ridgeland Beautiful was recognized as a local affiliate for its citywide zinnia beautification effort in partnership with the Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce. Affiliate Director Jan Richardson and Board Members Ginger Cocke, Rachel Brantley and Lea Anne Stacy accepted the award.
• Mississippi Department of Transportation won the State Agency Partnership Award for its ongoing support of Keep Mississippi Beautiful and litter prevention efforts across the state.
• Keep Mississippi Beautiful received the Diamond Level recognition for sustained success in the Keep America Beautiful network.
• 30 local affiliates in Mississippi won the President’s Circle Award for sustained success. They include: Keep Belzoni Beautiful, Keep Brookhaven-Lincoln County Beautiful, Keep Canton Beautiful, Keep Clinton Beautiful, Keep Columbia/Marion County Beautiful, Keep Corinth-Alcorn Beautiful, Keep Desoto County Beautiful, Keep Diamondhead Beautiful, Keep Flora Beautiful, Keep Harrison County Beautiful, Keep Hattiesburg Beautiful, Keep Holmes County Beautiful, Keep Indianola Beautiful, Keep Jackson Beautiful, Keep Kosciusko Beautiful, Keep Leake County Beautiful, Keep Madison the city Beautiful, Keep Magee Beautiful, Keep Mendenhall Beautiful, Keep Natchez/Adams County Beautiful, Keep Oxford/Lafayette County Beautiful, Keep Pascagoula Beautiful, Keep Pearl Beautiful, Keep Pike County Beautiful, Keep Ridgeland Beautiful, Keep Simpson County Beautiful, Keep Starkville Beautiful, Keep the Rez Beautiful, Keep Tupelo Beautiful, and Keep Waveland Beautiful.

Keep America Beautiful President Helen Lowman presents Ron Aldridge with the Iron Eyes Cody Award.

From Keep America Beautiful —

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization celebrating its 65^th anniversary in 2018, recently presented Jackson, Mississippi’s Ron Aldridge with its Iron Eyes Cody Award in recognition of his decades of community service devoted to advancing Mississippi as a cleaner, greener and more beautiful state.

Aldridge, who was nominated for the award by Keep Mississippi Beautiful (KMB), was presented with Keep America Beautiful’s top volunteer honor at its annual National Awards Ceremony, held during Keep America Beautiful’s National Conference in Dallas, Texas, from Jan. 17-19.

The Iron Eyes Cody Award was created in honor of Keep America Beautiful’s landmark public awareness campaign of the 1970s, which is credited with awakening the environmental consciousness of an entire generation of Americans. The award is given to a man who demonstrates exceptional leadership in raising public awareness about ending litter, improving recycling and beautifying communities, as well as the need for citizens to participate in activities that help transform public spaces into beautiful places.

“Affiliate directors from across the Keep America Beautiful network in Mississippi describe Ron Aldridge as the ‘hardest working volunteer’ and a ‘joy to have around,’” said Keep America Beautiful President Helen Lowman during the awards presentation. “Ron’s leadership and volunteer efforts have helped Keep Mississippi Beautiful and our local affiliates better serve their communities.”

Aldridge, who serves as the executive vice president of the Mississippi Beverage Association, has served on the KMB board of directors since 1992 and as a past chairman. His close working relationship with Mississippi legislators has provided great visibility for many of KMB’s projects, including Keep Mississippi Beautiful Legislative Day, where he’s rallied legislators to sign the leaders against litter pledge. In 2015, he worked with Mississippi lawmakers and state officials to pass a bill that exempts the purchases by KMB and all of its affiliates from state sales taxes. Under Aldridge’s guidance, a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Transportation has been vital to raising KMB’s visibility and effectiveness throughout the state.

Every year, he provides tremendous support to the success of KMB’s Great American Cleanup State Kickoff. And Aldridge has been a significant supporter in training affiliate leaders.

“Mississippi is blessed to have Ron Aldridge, who works tirelessly to advance cleaning, greening and beautification efforts in Mississippi,” said Sarah Kountouris, Executive Director, Keep Mississippi Beautiful.

His contributions to KMB and Keep America Beautiful affiliates in Mississippi spurred KMB to honor him with the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2016. In fact, KMB renamed the award – the Ron Aldridge Volunteer of the Year Award – to commemorate his contributions.

In addition to Aldridge’s leadership and service to KMB’s board, he was one of three original organizers of the Mississippi Recycling Coalition (MRC) and has served on its board of directors since 1997. Additionally, Aldridge has served during many cleanup and recycling efforts with his residential neighborhood association, his local business community, and other communities throughout the state. Aldridge has served on Keep Jackson Beautiful’s board of directors, former Gov. Haley Barbour’s environmental task force, the Mississippi Scenic Byways Advisory Committee, as a member of the Mississippi Environmental Educators Association, and the State Recycling Task Force. Keep Mississippi Beautiful also selected Aldridge in 2003 for its highest honor, the Louise Godwin Award, for his many efforts to advance Keep America Beautiful’s mission in Mississippi.

Aldridge was one of more than 80 individuals and organizations from communities across America to receive national recognition. Keep America Beautiful’s National Awards recognize the passion, dedication and impact of Keep America Beautiful’s affiliates from across the nation as well as partner organizations and individuals who share Keep America Beautiful’s vision of a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live.