Keep Akron Beautiful will install a Flowerscape at this site in Downtown Akron near the John S. Knight Center, Akron Art Museum and Main Library, thanks to a recent grant from Lowe’s. (Photo Courtesy: Keep Akron Beautiful)
(Courtesy of Keep Akron Beautiful)
Lowe’s has awarded Keep Akron Beautiful a $5,000 grant to support the organization’s mission to help make Akron a clean, green and a more beautiful place to live.
The Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s grant will provide funding to install a Flowerscape in Downtown Akron to be completed in 2015 with the assistance of local Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers.
Keep Akron Beautiful will work with many in-kind partners to make this project a success. These partners include: The Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau, Downtown Akron Partnership, The Akron Art Museum, The Akron-Summit County Public Library and The City of Akron. A large row of burning bushes will be removed, so that a new, blooming, Flowerscape can be installed.
The plantings will be located directly outside The John S. Knight Center, near the Akron Art Museum and across the street from The Akron-Summit County Public Library, on High Street, in Downtown Akron. The Flowerscape’s plantings will coincide with the new Bud and Susie Rogers Garden that the Akron Art Museum is installing, which is scheduled to be finished Oct. 31.
“We are so thankful to Lowe’s for their generous donation to help us install a beautification site in the heart of Downtown Akron,” said Keep Akron Beautiful CEO Jacqui Flaherty-Ricchiuti. “Many businesses are able to see this area through their windows, and it is a fact that residents of buildings with more trees and flowers in their courtyards report closer contact with neighbors and a greater sense of community rather than those of barren areas. We will look forward to the installation, the work with many great community partners and the enjoyment that this Flowerscape will bring for years to come.”
The Keep Akron Beautiful grant is one of 50 merit-based grants awarded nationally by Lowe’s to community-based affiliates of Keep America Beautiful in support of grassroots service projects ranging from restoring neighborhood parks and planting community gardens to leading disaster restoration initiatives and large-scale cleanups.
“We take great pride in the work we do with Keep America Beautiful to improve the health of our communities,” said Joan Higginbotham, Lowe’s director of community relations. “We look forward to inspiring more people to join us so that we can continue to make our communities better places to live.”
Keep America Beautiful affiliates and partnering organizations received nearly 245 Lowe’s grants the past three years. Through this partnership, nearly 1 million flowers and bulbs have been planted; more than 225 playgrounds and recreational areas have been built or revitalized; and more than 1,000 community gardens have been planted.
Over the course of the partnership, Keep America Beautiful and Lowe’s have brought together more than 40,000 volunteers and 1,000 Lowe’s Heroes. Together, they’ve contributed 196,000 volunteer hours to improve their respective communities.
“We’re grateful to Lowe’s and all of the Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers, who in partnership with our affiliates and other community-based volunteers, spend countless hours to make a difference through our Great American Cleanup and other community improvement initiatives,” said Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Keep America Beautiful is thrilled to call Lowe’s our partner and looks forward to transforming more public spaces into beautiful places together in 2015 and beyond.”
Lowe’s also provides support as a national sponsor of Keep America Beautiful’s flagship program, the Great American Cleanup, which takes place in 20,000 communities from coast to coast. This national program engages on average 4 million volunteers and participants who take action to create positive change and lasting impact.
For information, visit kab.org.
