The UPS Foundation Awards Keep America Beautiful Affiliates with Community Grants

(3BL Media) Stamford, CT - June 5, 2012 –The recipients of the 5th annual UPS/Keep America Beautiful Community Improvement Grant Program are being provided with more support than ever for recycling, beautification, community greening, litter prevention and waste reduction initiatives across the country. This year’s grant awards exceeded $150,000 for 66 projects.

The 2012 UPS/Keep America Beautiful Community Improvement Grant program provided: $10,000 grants to five recipients; $5,000 grants to 10 recipients; and $1,000 grants to 51 recipients. The program’s intent is to link KAB affiliate organizations with local UPS employee teams who will – in addition to the grant funding – provide essential volunteer support to the local efforts.

“Keep America Beautiful is privileged to have developed such a strong partnership with The UPS Foundation, because its values are in such close alignment with our own,” said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “Our affiliates are truly grateful to the many UPS volunteers who are engaging in our local, grassroots initiatives.”

“The UPS Foundation is pleased to support Keep America Beautiful because of the broad array of programs and projects that UPS employees can engage in to improve their local communities,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation. “Past success with this grant program led to an even greater commitment to more KAB affiliates throughout the country. We’re eager to see the results that our grassroots partners can achieve with our ongoing commitment.”

Recipients of the $10,000 UPS/KAB Community Improvement Grant Program awards illustrate the diversity and creativity of all of the winning grants:

• Keep Georgia Beautiful will award mini-grants to select KAB affiliates in Georgia as part of its Edible NeighborWoods Program, which plants local community orchards. The Georgia Urban Forest Council and the Georgia Forestry Commission will partner in this program. The 20-30 trees planted in each community will help improve air quality, prevent storm-water runoff, nourish wildlife and provide a source of local, sustainable community produce.

• Keep Indianapolis Beautiful is using its grant funds to support its NeighborWoods program with a target to plant 100,000 large trees in Indianapolis within the next 10 years. This grant will specifically be used to plant approximately 85 large Indiana native trees, staff three certified arborists to plant and track the trees success, and educate communities about the importance of this project.

• “Cleanup on the Go” is the theme of the program that Keep Las Vegas Beautiful     is instituting with its grant funds. The affiliate will purchase a small trailer stocked with standard supplies for a neighborhood cleanup as well as supplies for a graffiti removal program. The key to the program is its ability to travel well – no location would be left behind.

• Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful collaborative partner Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste District in Ironton, Ohio, is establishing the “Life Intervention & Diversion (LID): County Work Farm,” where alternative sentences may be carried out as determined by the court system. The County Work Farm will help to address the overcrowding issue at a local county jail. The farm will produce food for public meal programs, including those provided at the county jail, the local juvenile group and shelter home, two senior centers, several Head Start Centers & the Downtown Churches Food Bank.

• Keep Greenville County Beautiful in Greenville, S.C., is creating a new community park and greenway – the “Greenway Trail” – which is located on vacant, publically-owned property. The grant will primarily be used to beautify stream corridors, clean up littered areas, and connect to civic and cultural designations throughout the community.

For more information about the programs supported through the $5,000 grants, go to www.kab.org/UPS.

The UPS/KAB Community Improvement Grant Program is one element of The UPS Foundation’s overall support of KAB, which totaled $225,000 in the past year, designed to strengthen KAB’s affiliate network. The inaugural UPS Scholarship Program was established to encourage and strengthen individual leadership of KAB affiliates by providing $1,500 scholarships to six affiliate leaders so they could attend at KAB’s 58th annual National Conference. These grant awards were presented to KAB affiliates in recognition of their volunteer initiatives with local UPS locations throughout the United States.

The UPS Foundation also supported KAB’s Vision for America Award, which is presented annually to distinguished leaders whose personal and corporate commitments have significantly enhanced civic, environmental and social stewardship throughout the U.S.

About The UPS Foundation
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight, the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Since its founding in 1907, UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2011, is responsible for facilitating community involvement to local, national, and global communities. In 2011, UPS and its employees, active and retired, invested more than $93.3 million in charitable giving around the world. The UPS foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/foundation. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of more than 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. For more information, visit www.kab.org.