Executive Director’s Report:
Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission Meeting: November 19, 2014
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1. The Keep America Beautiful Board of Directors met October 9th in Greenwich, CT
for a day-long retreat devoted to reviewing KAB current status and focus on future
planning; the final Board Meeting for 2014 followed on the 10th. I am very pleased to be
able to report that over the past year the engagement and interaction among board
members has significantly improved from that of previous years meetings.
2. The single most determining factor for this advance is the refreshing and appealing
style of our new President, Jennifer Jehn. Her inclusive and collegial leadership
approach encourages and elicits thoughtful input, useful comment and constructive
discussion. We are very fortunate to have attracted Jennifer and grateful for her.
3. KAB Affiliates and participating SROs stimulated awareness across the country of
KAB’s America Recycles Day, November 15th. Online, we promoted ARD’s Recycling
Pledge and created a Trashy Photo Contest for schools, which also served to introduce
and promote our new smartphone mobile app. MHP will report our publicity activities.
4. The 2014 ARC Conference, September 29-October 1, in Eureka Springs, was attended
by Liz and Commissioners Black, Elrod, Hammond, Pope and Shaw. This year, Keep
Arkansas Beautiful hosted an information table to promote KAB’s “Recycle Bowl” and
ARD. It was reported to be an eventful occasion, so we look forward to each attendee
sharing his/her experiences and learnings during our November 19th meeting.
5. The Great Arkansas Cleanup has concluded with preliminary results indicating it was
a highly successful program again this year. Along with the customary and sustaining
large organization events, this year, several communities held multiple small cleanups.
6. We’re indebted to Liz for her faithful reporting of participating organizations, events
and their wrap up reports. We hope commissioners took advantage of these alerts and
attended events in their areas. We solicit a reflective report from all who did.
7. Speaking of Commissioners, please welcome our newest: Rebecca Rains of Little
Rock, who will represent the State At Large. As reported earlier, she replaces Georgette
Garner. The 3rd District appointment is now filled by Commissioner Julie Heyes.
8. The KAB State Affiliate Profile / Annual Report was submitted to KAB, with a copy
emailed to everyone for your review. We are pleased to have earned our 11th consecutive
President’s Circle Award and our fifth Diamond Level achievement recognition, the
highest awarded. We are very grateful of the support and accomplishment of all who
contributed to this honor.
9. Congratulations are also in order to these local Affiliate President Circle recipients:
Keep Bryant Beautiful; Keep Fayetteville Beautiful; Keep North Little Rock Beautiful;
Keep Sherwood Beautiful and Keep Van Buren Beautiful. We appreciate you!
10. In contrast, two KAB local Affiliates are non-compliant. Unless remedial action is
accomplished before year end, Keep Faulkner County Beautiful and Keep Newport
Beautiful face the loss of their KAB affiliation. If you have any influence with either of
these organizations, please join us in urging them to take action to regain good standing.
11. We also are happy to acknowledge and wish Happy Anniversary greetings to our
most recent KAB affiliate certifications: Keep Bryant Beautiful, September 28th; Keep
West Memphis Beautiful, October 3rd and Keep El Dorado Beautiful, November 2nd.
12. Progress continues for pre-cert affiliate, Keep Camden Beautiful. Their certification
is anticipated to be scheduled early in 2015. Additionally, strong affiliate interest is
being discussed by two other communities – we’ll keep you advised as plans are
developed.
13. To illustrate the value our volunteers, local affiliates and supporters provide to our
program, at the end of each year we compile a report that reflects the beneficial result of
volunteers’ hours, donated goods and services and grants that we attract. These reflect
the economic impact of Keep Arkansas Beautiful to the state and its communities.
14. For 2013, the value of volunteers’ time totaled $2,452,278. This represents the work
of more than 64,000 individuals: Please always be aware that Volunteers Aren’t Paid –
but it isn’t because they are worthless; they’re not paid because They Are Priceless!
15. Also in 2013, supporting grants and organizations provided goods and services that
added another $866,133, with local KAB Affiliates contributing an additional $ 51,675;
these are in addition to the value of their volunteers in local events and programs.
16. In summary, Keep Arkansas Beautiful, Keep America Beautiful and our community
certified affiliate network provides a Cost Benefit of more than $3,370,000 to our state,
its communities and people. Compared to our operating budget, this produces a ROI of
$5.55 for each $1.00 in program expense – another example of how we Shine!
17. Impressive figures continue: the ABA/NCSA 1st six months media totals $347,107;
Litter Hotline calls continue to report around 100 per week with over 67,000 having
been received in the Litter Reporting Program’s nearly 10 years.
18. The Nominating Committee will present its slate of officers, Betty Shaw,
Chairwoman, and Dianne Hammond, Vice Chairwoman, for election during the
November meeting. Each officer serves a one year term beginning January 2015.
19. Mangan Holcomb Partners has again graciously offered their traditional holiday
hospitality and will provide lunch following our Commission meeting. Please express
your appreciation to them for this kindness; and, additionally, for the extraordinary
professional services and products they consistently provide us to inspire, educate and
enable citizens toward improved environmental behaviors for a cleaner, greener, more
attractive and more vibrant Arkansas.
20. Safe travel!