Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partner Grants program awarded Keep Alachua County Beautiful a $5,000 grant to support graffiti abatement.

Throughout 2017, Keep Alachua County Beautiful (KACB) was able to participate in various community revitalization projects thanks to the Keep America Beautiful/Lowes Community Partner Grant program it was awarded in support of graffiti abatement.

Student volunteers from the University of Florida assisted in painting A to Z Professional Child Care Academy, a local daycare in the Porters Community in Alachua County as well as other graffiti-ridden childcare facilities. These students, using funds from the grant program, have provided children in the area a better condition to thrive in.

KACB is determined to continue its graffiti removal efforts within the Gainesville community as a reemergence of vandalism within the area surfaces, giving way to an increase in crime. By continuing its tireless work, KACB and its volunteers are helping to ensure that the community is well maintained so all residents are able to live in a clean and safe environment. KACB has also conducted projects with Progressive Black Men Inc., an organization in Alachua County that removes graffiti from several traffic signs in the southwest area of Gainesville — allowing residents and visitors to see the signs more clearly.

KACB knows each individual holds an obligation to preserve and protect our environment through our daily choices and actions and through its mission, it’s making a community impact. This grant gave KACB the opportunity to continue to beautify, conserve resources, recycle, educate and preserve its environmental legacy.