STAMFORD, Conn. - January 15, 2009 - Seven Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliates were awarded with $10,000 environmental grants from The UPS Foundation, honoring their support of the UPS Global Volunteer Month Environmental Challenge.

The awards were presented to KAB affiliates in recognition of their volunteer initiatives with local UPS locations throughout the United States. UPS employees worked with KAB affiliates to design and complete volunteer projects that prevented litter, reduced waste and beautified public spaces, and submitted their projects for the merit-based awards.

The winning KAB affiliates and a description of their UPS-supported environmental projects are:

• Wisconsin : Working with Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, approximately 2,000 pounds of litter was removed by over 1,300 UPS volunteers, who also participated in a cell phone recycling program, shoe recycling project, and other park beautification and cleanup projects.

• Central Texas: Working with Keep Austin Beautiful, UPS employees contributed 304 hours of volunteer service to the Lady Bird Lake Canoe Cleanup project. UPS volunteers helped remove 1,500 pounds of trash from the lake and played a key role in organizing and recruiting volunteers for the cleanup effort.

• Arizona: Working with Keep Phoenix Beautiful, 75 UPS volunteers contributed 228 volunteer hours on the Pueblo Grande Museum Archeological Park Cleanup Project. UPS employees participated in beautification of the highly visible areas of the museum's outdoor Archeological Park, planted 82 Xeriscape plants, and cleared  two aces of land.

• West Carolina : Working with Keep Greensboro Beautiful, UPS employees assisted in removing 30 tons of debris and invasive plants that choke out native plants and harm ecosystems at the City of Greensboro’s Keely Park. Keeley Park is a 138-acre site under development as a new regional park.

• Florida : Working with Keep Orlando Beautiful, UPS employees assisted in the Southport Park Beautification Project. In 2004, Hurricane Charley severely damaged the 71-acre park in Orlando. UPS volunteers helped trim more than 100 trees, and also planted fertilized and mulched 60 flowering plants.

• South Carolina Working with Keep North Charleston Beautiful, South Carolina district employees installed 128 shrubs in Quarterman Park Garden, and planted two new flowerbeds in the park. Also, 73 UPS employees supported efforts of Keep the Midlands Beautiful, and removed 10 tons of litter and debris over a two week period in both rural and urban areas of Lexington County, enhancing four municipalities and one national forest.

Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a powerful national network of community-based affiliates, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment.

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