G r eat A m er ica n Cle a nu p // 201 2 Re p ort
Educational Programs and Volunteering Energize Communities Volunteerism is at the heart of the American spirit. In 2012, 4.2 million volunteers and participants joined the Great American Cleanup, investing their time and passion in their communities. United in a common cause, people of all ages dedicated 7.9 million hours to efforts that improved their local surroundings and taught valuable lessons about the merit of taking responsibility for one’s community environment.
Ord High School Goes Above and Beyond Keep Loup Basin (Neb.) Beautiful (KLBB) partnered with Ord High School for its “Service Learning Day” during the Great American Cleanup. The “Service Learning Day” is a way for the students and school staff to give back to their community by working on numerous individual projects to beautify and improve Ord neighborhoods. Eighty-six percent of the 267 students and teachers in the Ord High School community volunteered their time and effort to the Great America Cleanup. The major beautification project that took place was the transformation of the front of Ord High School into a green space. Students and administration worked for more than a month cleaning, digging, mulching, planting, and laying sod to make a more inviting place for students and staff alike. The Ord High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) also worked on landscaping around the school’s new parking lot. In addition to the beautification projects, the Ord High School students dispersed throughout the community to pick up litter. In one day, a total of more than 100 GLAD® trash bags were collected for a total of 4,000 pounds of litter. The Ord High
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School students also volunteered to help unload vehicles at a KLBB recycling event. The end result was 18,296 pounds of appliances, 24,347 pounds of electronics, and 1,178 pounds of batteries collected in one April morning. The results of the Ord High School Service Day Project were very visible to the community. And the students will have the opportunity to continue to volunteer for environmental projects through the school for years to come.