Keep America Beautiful Announces Record-Setting Goal: Recruit 4 Million Volunteers To Activate Great American Cleanup 2012

Declares First-Ever “National Day of Action” on April 28 For Country’s Largest Community Improvement Movement Spotlighting 10 Cities

STAMFORD, Conn. (March 12 2012) — Keep America Beautiful (KAB), the nation’s largest volunteer-based community improvement organization, announced today the record-setting goal of recruiting 4 million volunteers to support its Great American Cleanup 2012 initiative that kicks off this month – nearly a quarter million more volunteers than last year.

The Great American Cleanup is the country’s largest community improvement movement that launches more than 30,000 programs with 1,200 affiliates and participating organizations convening millions of volunteers. Volunteers participate in a variety of activities focused on waste reduction, recycling, beautification and community greening.

“Our mission is to engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their communities,” said Matt McKenna, KAB chief executive officer and president. “We're fully committed to accelerating the positive impact of the Great American Cleanup each year. To achieve this, we must recruit new volunteers who want to contribute to building sustainable communities. I’m confident that we’ll meet our goal of recruiting and activating an army of 4 million strong this year.”

To support this call to action, KAB has declared the first-ever “National Day of Action” on Saturday, April 28, with activities taking place in nearly all 50 states. Special events are planned in 10 locations, including Oakland, Calif., Los Angeles, Cocoa, Fla., Indianapolis, Ind., Cobb County, Ga., Hampton Roads, Va., Houston, Texas, Shreveport, La., Philadelphia, Pa., and Nashville, Tenn. Each of these locations will lead large-scale cleanups and other coordinated events. For details, visit kab.org.

In 2011, more than 3.8 million volunteers in 16,500 communities took part in 30,600 Great American Cleanup events. Highlights included:

• Removal of 177 million pounds of litter and debris;
• Beautification of 177,000 acres of parks, public lands and open spaces;
• Cleaning 6,400 miles of rivers, lakes and shorelines; and
• Planting of 166,000 trees and 1.5 million flowers and bulbs.

An emphasis on recycling resulted in the collection of:

• 290+ million plastic bottles;
• 7.9 million pounds of electronics;
• 13.4 million pounds of aluminum and steel;
• 12.1 million pounds of glass; and
• 807,000 scrap tires.

A full list of 2011 results can be found online at kab.org/GAC_2011Results.

How you can get involved: Visit kab.org for a list of participating organizations. If there’s not an organization near you, you can organize your own community improvement project by following specific guidelines provided on the site. You can also “like” the Great American Cleanup at www.facebook.com/GreatAmericanCleanup or follow the Great American Cleanup on Twitter at @icleanupgreenup.

America’s leading companies and brands support the campaign. The National Sponsors of the 2012 Great American Cleanup to date are:  The Dow Chemical Company; The Glad Products Company; LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc.; Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water; PepsiCo's Pepsi-Cola and Gatorade companies; Solo Cup Company; Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment; Waste Management; and Wrigley. Promotional Partner: The Miss America Organization. Educational Partners are: Rubber Manufacturers Association and WM Recycle America.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. Its national program, the Great American Cleanup is one of many initiatives that encourage people to care for communities through volunteer participation.  To join the Great American Cleanup and let green start with you, visit www.kab.org.

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