STAMFORD, Conn. (May 11, 2017) – Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, today announced Sacramento State has become the national nonprofit’s first collegiate affiliate.
Keep America Beautiful of Sacramento State – known on campus as Sac State Sustainability – joins a powerful and passionate network of more than 620 affiliates nationwide, including 27 state-level affiliates, hundreds of community based affiliates, and a select number of international affiliates.
“Sacramento State has long been recognized as a leader in promoting environmental sustainability, and now the university has added another item to its long list of distinctions: the first college campus in the nation to be an official Keep America Beautiful affiliate,” said Helen Lowman, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful. “As part of the Keep America Beautiful Affiliate Network, Sac State Sustainability is acting as a catalyst for positive community change, with the goal of improving the quality of life for the university community, including its students, faculty and administrators.”
The formation of Sacramento State as an official Keep America Beautiful Collegiate Affiliate builds upon a partnership with Keep California Beautiful, one of the national nonprofits’ state affiliates. Keep America Beautiful intends to use its formalized partnership with Sacramento State to develop an extensive “campus affiliate” model that can be adopted at colleges and universities across the nation to engage and empower the next generation of community stewards.
“Sac State Sustainability has been a leader in so many different areas, including sustainability and community volunteerism,” said Christine Flowers, an environmental studies lecturer who served as Keep California Beautiful’s executive director from 2007 to 2013. “Becoming a Keep America Beautiful affiliate will provide opportunities for the University to engage more directly with the community and other resources in California and nationally,”
Through the partnership, students will continue to have access to volunteer and internship opportunities through Keep California Beautiful and its other partners. The University also will be able to share data from student and faculty research, as well as tap into additional resources such as grants, research and programmatic resources available through Keep America Beautiful.
“We’re committed to keeping California beautiful,” said Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen. “Whether it’s biofuel – if you don’t finish something on your plate today, it’s going to be gasoline tomorrow in our buses around campus – or whether it’s chipping the trees that fall down, or whether it’s helping pick up litter, we are here to make certain that we have a sustainable campus and a sustainable world.”
“Keep California Beautiful is thrilled to have helped facilitate Sacramento State’s affiliation with Keep America Beautiful,” said Keep California Beautiful President Ray Scott. “The University has a significant track record in sustainability. We hope this will serve as an example for other colleges and universities to partner with Keep America Beautiful to help make their college communities environmentally healthier, economically stronger, and more socially connected.”
About Keep America Beautiful
At Keep America Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature. A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. We envision a country in which every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 620 state and community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. To donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.
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(Photo above) President Robert S. Nelsen, left, and members of Sacramento State’s sustainability staff (with KCRA’s Tamara Berg in the center foreground) give a ‘Stinger’s Up!’ at a Keep California Beautiful event held April 20 at Sac State’s Bioconversion and Compost Facility. (Sacramento State/Jessica Vernone)