Keep Laurens County Beautiful Receives Grant Funding to Support Litter Solutions

Keep Laurens County Beautiful (KLCB) has been awarded a $10,000 grant through PalmettoPride's Keep South Carolina Beautiful (KSCB) Annual Support Grant program.  These funds will be used to implement litter prevention, waste reduction, and beautification projects across Laurens County.

The KSCB Annual Support Grant provides local Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliates in South Carolina with a competitive financial opportunity to add additional resources that address specific local litter concerns.

KLCB understands the importance of educating our youth to change the culture. The litter prevention projects will focus on education by connecting with students in public schools across Laurens County. With these funds, KLCB will to provide class rooms with books and PalmettoPrides "Who Dirtied the Water" educational kits allowing students to get a hands on visual of how pollutants and litter affect out waterways. KLCB will continue the partnership with the Joe Adair Outdoor education center and Laurens County Conservation District to host Team Ecology, a multiday learning experience called. All Laurens County public-school 3rd grade students enjoy a field trip to Joe Adair where they learn about composting, pollinators, recycling, litter, soils, watersheds and more. During Team Ecology, Litter Letter Project will be create to visualize how much waste we consume and taken to our landfill.

These grant funds will also support the campaign "Keep it Clean, Drains to Streams" campaign. One big project Plans are being made to hire an artist to paint storm drain art murals in selected locations across Laurens County. This visual education component will be for the public to enjoy and hopefully emphasize on the importance of keeping storm drains clean and clear of trash.

"Coupled with our collaborative partners, this will allow us to continue working toward positive change and building pride to keep our community clean," according to Courtney Stonell, Affiliate Coordinator.  "We are very excited to be a recipient of this grant from PalmettoPride."

KLCB was established in 2022 through a countywide partnership between Laurens County Council, the City of Clinton, the City of Fountain Inn, the City of Laurens, and the Laurens County Development Corporation, to create a Keep America Beautiful Affiliate position under the Chamber umbrella.  This collaboration has proven successful and shows the County leadership's dedication to tackle the litter issue throughout Laurens County.

For more information on KLCB, contact Courtney Stonell at (864) 871-6031 or cstonell@laurenscounty.org. For more information on PalmettoPride, visit www.palmettopride.org.