|
Corporate Social Responsibility
News
12.01.2005 ET
|
CSR News from:
|
|
|
News Category:
|
|
Three Cities Take Top Honors in Keep America Beautiful's Graffiti Prevention Competition
(CSRwire) Stamford, Conn. - Keep America Beautiful, Inc. is pleased to
announce the winners of the second annual Graffiti Hurts® National Award
competition. Innovative and results-focused graffiti prevention programs
in three cities took top honors:
Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, Lawrenceville, Ga. (Communities greater
than 100,000 population);
City of Riverbank, Riverbank, Calif. (Communities less than 100,000
population); and
Just 4 Kids, Key West, Fla. (Paint brush mural).
"The costly blight of graffiti affects communities of all sizes, all
across the nation," said G. Raymond Empson, president of Keep America
Beautiful. "The Graffiti Hurts® National Awards honor the best graffiti
prevention programs of the year while highlighting our organization's
efforts to provide tools and resources for graffiti prevention, removal
and education."
Graffiti Hurts® was developed in 1997 through a partnership between Keep
America Beautiful, the nation's largest nonprofit education and community
improvement organization, and The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW),
maker of Krylon paint. Graffiti Hurts® provides community resources and
promotes best practices for graffiti prevention.
Entrants in the competition represented the best of local governments,
police departments, nonprofit volunteer organizations, and other groups
dedicated to eradicating graffiti vandalism. Winning programs receive a
cash award, a plaque, and local and national recognition.
Award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges, which
included Rosemary DeMenno, the National Crime Prevention Council; Faith
Wiedler, National Council to Prevent Delinquency; Sgt. Dwight Waldo, San
Bernardino Police Department; Donna Curtis, Shreveport Green; and Michelle
Neuhauser, The Sherwin-Williams Company.
"Sherwin-Williams is committed to supporting effective approaches to
community improvement challenges, such as the proliferation of graffiti
vandalism," said Christopher M. Connor, president and CEO of The
Sherwin-Williams Company. "Our company is pleased that Graffiti Hurts® is
serving as a catalyst in communities seeking new solutions to this national
problem and we are proud to recognize their significant achievements."
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc. and Graffiti Hurts® Keep America
Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest
volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a
network of nearly 1,000 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep
America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that
engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their
community environments. For additional information, visit www.kab.org.
For more information about Graffiti Hurts® and its resources to help
communities prevent graffiti, visit www.graffitihurts.org or contact
graffitihurts@kab.org.
About the 2005 Graffiti Hurts® Award Winners
Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Contact: Connie Wiggins - 770-822-5187; cwiggins@gwinnettcb.org
To address an 81 percent increase in the number of graffiti tags in 2000,
Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, Lawrenceville, Ga., located just outside of
Atlanta, launched a comprehensive graffiti prevention program. Since
then, the community has witnessed a consistent decrease in graffiti each
year, with an 18 percent decrease in square feet tagged in 2005. That
same year, volunteers and inmate labor removed graffiti from 971 sites.
Two innovations make this model program a stand out. An annual survey of
graffiti tags, now in its third year, allows Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful to
measure program results. And, in coordination with the Gwinnett GIS
Department, it has developed a graffiti tracking and mapping program to
identify where graffiti is occurring and how frequently.
The program also has a strong education component. Through media coverage
using a PSA, and the distribution of over 215,000 graffiti education
fliers, including a water bill insert, it has taken the graffiti
prevention message to about 700,000 residents.
City of Riverbank, Riverbank, Calif.
Contact: Richard Holmer - 209-863-7122; cmgr@riverbank.org
Education and innovation are the keys to Riverbank's winning program.
After traditional graffiti prevention tactics didn't prove successful,
Riverbank, located in California's central valley, formed a task force,
hired a code enforcement officer, and got to work on a comprehensive
community effort. The result was a drop in vandalism costs to the city
from $50,000 to $2,500 in just 12 months.
The "Victory over Vandalism" program included the creation of "Victor, the
Anti-Vandalism Dog" and a host of new initiatives. Groups and individuals
adopted walls, a call line and reward program were established, youth
completed a mural on a water tank, while other community members
participated in a "paint-by-numbers" mural on a chronically tagged wall.
An education program to all third- and fifth graders was also established,
with youth asked to take a "Victory Over Vandalism" pledge. And, an
anti-graffiti poster contest for K-8 graders received over 600 entries
with the winning poster printed on a Community Awareness T-shirt.
Just 4 Kids, Key West, Fla.
Contact: Paula Ciavolino - 305-923-8993; ciavolinop@monroe.k12.fl.us
Founded with one leader and no budget, the year-old Just 4 Kids "Art
Against Graffiti" program has become a lightning rod for graffiti
prevention and beautification in Key West, Fla. The program engages
children ages 3-17 from shelters, after school programs, and art classes
to participate in a mural program--and fight graffiti vandalism.
Children learned about graffiti, what it was, and its effect on their
community. Then they set to work on their own original sketches, and as a
group hand painted their designs on 24 utility boxes that had become
ravaged with graffiti.
Paint and supplies were donated, as were transportation buses, and drinks
and snacks for the kids. The City's Mayor also visited several of the
sites during painting. The result: Just 4 Kids has been invited to
continue this effort on storage buildings, fire hydrants, and construction
walls that have been vandalized with graffiti.
|
|
