STAMFORD, Conn. (Sept. 9, 2015) — Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit which envisions a country where every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, has selected 10 high school students from across the country to serve on its fourth national Youth Advisory Council (YAC), which is sponsored through the generous support of the Wrigley Company Foundation.
The YAC creates a national framework for youth engagement, building on the model of youth service with Keep America Beautiful community-based affiliates. The newly-selected YAC members will provide an original point of view in assessing Keep America Beautiful programs, implement local service projects, and will act as ambassadors and leaders for youth service in their respective communities and states. The members pilot Keep America Beautiful programs and develop programs to engage youth to support the Keep America Beautiful mission. Goals for 2015-2016 include promoting Keep America Beautiful Schools, including tools to be litter-free, and developing a framework for establishing or branding local youth groups as Keep America Beautiful YAC.
The selection decisions were based on a written application, geographic representation, grade level (mixing different grades), and interest area (litter prevention, beautification and community greening, and waste reduction/recycling).
The members of the 2015/2016 YAC class come from across the nation:
- Sophie Bernstein, St. Louis, Missouri
- Jannah Brown, Vienna, Georgia
- Deja Chappell, Montgomery, Alabama
- Eugen Cotei, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Reagan Gifford, Danville, Illinois
- Ana Gomez, Fort Worth, Texas
- Krysten Racs, Los Angeles, California
- Nicholas Ranieri, Palm City, Florida
- Laine Rumreich, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Connor Stack, Arrowhead, California
Through the generous support of the Wrigley Company Foundation, Youth Advisory Council members will meet with their counterparts from across the country via monthly conference calls and at Keep America Beautiful’s National Conference in Orlando, Florida, which takes place Feb. 1-3, 2016.
With the Foundation’s support, YAC members also will be provided with a grant of up to $1,500 to produce a community service project in their own community.
About the Wrigley Company Foundation
The mission of the Wrigley Company Foundation is to help improve the health of people and our planet through sustainable initiatives, including those focused on environmental stewardship, as well as local needs that ensure a healthy community. Since its founding in 1987, the Wrigley Company Foundation has donated more than $66 million USD to charitable organizations improving lives around the world. For more information, visit www.wrigley.com and www.mars.com.
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 where 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, reduce waste, increase recycling, and protect the natural beauty of the areas around us. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. To learn how you can donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us onYouTube.