Annual Report 2017

FY17 Annual Report

Recycling Beautification Litter Prevention

Suffolk residents kept 2,071lbs of batteries out of our landfill using the

Household Battery Recycling program

Contents

Table of Contents 2
The Suffolk Clean
Community Commission 3
Our Mission 4
Meet the People 5
Well-Managed Funds 6
Communication 7
Litter Prevention 9
Recycling 14
Beautification 18
Moving Forward 22

2

The Suffolk Clean Community Commission (SCCC), publically recognized as Keep
Suffolk Beautiful (KSB), is an affiliate of the national non-profit Keep America
Beautiful. We are proud to be part of this national network whose
contributions and impacts within local communities across America are valued
and appreciated.

Keep Suffolk Beautiful (KSB) liaise and work closely with the City of Suffolk. We
receive City funding and resources. Additionally, when eligible, we apply for
grants and utilize available resources sent to us from Keep America Beautiful,
including: litter grabbers, water bottles for volunteers and promotional toolkits.

The Litter Control Coordinator is the Secretary, and attends meetings, records
the minutes and helps facilitate programs and initiatives. The Litter Control
Coordinator is an employee within the Public Works Engineering department.

3

Our purpose is to promote public interest in the general improvement of the
environment; to initiate, plan and coordinate programs for litter control and
recycling; to encourage the placing, planting and/or preservation of trees, flowers,

plants, shrubs and other objects of ornamentation.

Keep Suffolk Beautiful

Our Mission 4

Meet the Suffolk Clean Community Commission

Kathy Russell (Chairperson) Oulaniece Saunders Carolyn Butler
Susan Davis (Vice Chairperson) Heather Gustafson Vacancy
Michael Lane Vicky Parish

The Commission is composed of eight members appointed by
the City Council at large for staggered terms of four years,
beginning on July 1 of the applicable year.

Meet the Keep Suffolk Beautiful Executive Board

Margaret LaRocco Vacancy
Hugh Cross Vacancy

Kathy Russell (Chairperson) Oulaniece Saunders Carolyn Butler
Susan Davis (Vice Chairperson) Heather Gustafson Vacancy
Michael Lane Vicky Parish

The Board consists of members of the Commission and four additional members
appointed by the City Council who shall represent various businesses such as, but
not limited to, the Chamber of Commerce, fast-food, banking, solid-waste and
home-building industries. The City Manager may appoint up to four non voting
members to the Board who shall represent the City in regard to the objectives of
the Commission.

5

Well - Managed Funds

The Suffolk Clean Community Commission / Keep Suffolk Beautiful received
funding of $15,000 for the fiscal year. We are a good steward of the public’s
resource. In FY17 we coordinated and engaged volunteers so that for every
$1.00 provided in our budget, we gave $4.80 in litter prevention, recycling
and beautification services back into our community.

By the numbers: FY16 FY17
1,896 2,673
Volunteer hours $47,210 $72,064
Value of volunteer service hours*

Pounds of litter removed from our community 20,925lbs 39,525lbs

Tires collected and disposed of 1,922 3,659

Batteries recycled and diverted from landfill 2,404lbs 2,071lbs

Clothing and Electronics recycled and

diverted from landfill to Goodwill 6,000lbs 4,910lbs

*Using the latest 2016 Virginia average of volunteer time ($26.96), calculated by the Virginia
Employment Commission. FY16 was calculated using 2014 Virginia average of volunteer time ($24.89).

6

Communication

Keep Suffolk Beautiful is working to create a strong,
recognizable “brand” name so the public knows who we
are, what we do and that we are part of the nationally
recognizable affiliate network. We are working to
communicate clearly and cost-effectively.

We produce e-blasts, newspaper
advertisements, posters and engage
the local media to help promote and
encourage the public to get involved

with helping to
Keep Suffolk Beautiful.
7

8

Litter Prevention

In FY 2017 we collected approximately 39,525lbs of litter and debris. We achieved
this through our Adopt Programs, Community Cleanups and Special Events. In

addition to cleanups we focused on public outreach and education. We partnered
with other organizations such as, The Virginia Master Naturalists, Suffolk Public
Libraries, Suffolk Public Schools, Suffolk Parks and Recreation, Suffolk Police and

Suffolk Fire and Rescue. In addition, we built a relationship with the Suffolk News
Herald resulting in several articles published throughout the year. We also utilized

the City of Suffolk social media platforms to post on Facebook, Twitter and
Nextdoor. Plus we created our own contact database from people who signed up

at our events.

Savannah Nichole Scheil Group who adopted a section of Lake Prince Drive.

The Adopt Programs (Adopt-a-Street and Adopt-a-Spot) are an opportunity for
individuals, neighbors and organizations to take responsibility for keeping a street,

park or public space clean of litter and debris. We had 10 new groups join our
Adopt Programs in FY 2017 giving us a total of 51 groups in the program.

9

Community Cleanup E-blasts to help recruit volunteers.

In addition, to the Adopt Programs we coordinated 22 community cleanups and
organized special events such as Clean the Bay Day.

Clean the Bay Day was the biggest
cleanup event in Suffolk to date. We
had over 200 people register and we
coordinated 8 cleanup locations
around the city. The most popular
location was the downtown
Nansemond River site, where we had
canoes, kayaks and small boats
cleaning up the wetlands. Suffolk
Fire and Rescue and Suffolk Police supported us in their boats and the 3 hour
cleanup was a huge success as volunteers removed tires, shopping carts, batteries
and bags of trash.

10

Litter Prevention

2,531

Volunteer hours dedicated to help
Keep Suffolk Beautiful

$68,236

Value of volunteer service hours

216 tires

Includes 113 from the

39,525lbsNansemond River

Litter collected

100 milesOver of roads adopted

11

On Clean the Bay Day we had 8 cleanup The Keep America Beautiful Great
locations around the city. We bagged American Cleanup is the nation’s
approximately 5,000lbs of litter. We also largest community improvement
program. 2017 was a great year in
removed 45 tires and larger debris,
including shopping carts from the Suffolk:

Nansemond River. 31 Community Cleanups
507 volunteers

Hosted a Recycling Drive and
Tire Amnesty Day

Clean the Bay Day 2017 was a huge success. We had over 200 Funded Community Gardens
volunteers and we were joined by Suffolk Police and Suffolk Fire through Healthy Suffolk

and Rescue. Above is a picture of the tires we removed from Clean the Bay Day
the Nansemond River.

Environmental Stewardship In Suffolk, The Great American
Cleanup runs from March

through Clean the Bay Day in
June

12

Litter Prevention

In 2015 Suffolk won an award from Keep
America Beautiful for our Cigarette
Litter Prevention Campaign.

This year we received a grant from Keep
Virginia Beautiful to expand the

program. We will be partnering with
local businesses to give out receptacles.

13 Working Together

Recycling

Keep Suffolk Beautiful organizes two large 34 volunteers
recycling drives every year. One in the Spring to signed up to help out
coincide with the Great American Cleanup and
another in the Fall. They are very popular and
continue to grow. This year we are excited to be
partnering with the Lions Club, in addition, we
continue to collect food for the Food Bank of
Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.

$3,667

value of volunteer service hours

We collected 3,443 tires

14

Recycling

Working Together

Keep Suffolk Beautiful supported the
Southside Historic Chapter of the
Virginia Master Naturalists with
funding for building, installing and

maintaining 8 fishing line receptacles
in our city parks.

Claudia Lee and Lynn
Wehner installing a
receptacle on the new
fishing pier at Sleepy Hole

Park.

15
Helping to keep our waterways clean and protecting our wildlife

Recycling

America Recycles Day

Every year Keep Suffolk Last year we began our Plastic Bag Recycling effort
Beautiful celebrates with an education day at Suffolk Public Libraries.
We also collected hundreds of bags and sent them
America Recycles Day and to Nansemond River High School, where they were
encourages the community delivered to the Family, Career and Community
Leaders of America class who turned them into
to Reduce, Reuse and crocheted mats for the homeless.
Recycle. This year we
continued our successful
focus on plastic bag

recycling.

We partnered with Suffolk
Public Libraries and Trex, a
Virginia business, to give

our two main libraries a
permanent collection bin
for plastic bags. The plastic

bags are recycled and
turned into composite
decking boards by Trex.

16

Recycling

Programs and Supporting Initiatives

Keep Suffolk Beautiful funds a household battery
recycling program to divert hazardous materials
from the regional landfill. Collection points are all
over the city at police stations, grocery stores and

Suffolk Public Library locations.
We diverted 2,071lbs of batteries from the landfill

in one year.

Keep Suffolk Beautiful supports other organizations
in their recycling efforts. We help promote the ink
and laser cartridge recycling initiative operated by
Suffolk Public Library. We encourage the public to
recycle their plastic bags at grocery stores, or better

yet take a reusable bag.

When the Suffolk Police Department started
a Medicine Disposal program,

Keep Suffolk Beautiful was keen to help promote
it. Flushing of unwanted and unused medication
down drains negatively impacts our environment.

By providing a means of safe disposal, we can
keep these harmful chemicals out of our
waterways.

17

Beautification

Keep Suffolk Beautiful supports beautification projects around the City. We
work with various organizations such as the Suffolk Master Gardeners, the

Virginia Butterfly Society, Healthy Suffolk and others. We also support
individuals and groups like the Scouts with their community projects.

Over a year ago Keep Suffolk
Beautiful funded and
partnered with other

organizations to install a
butterfly garden at Bennett’s
Creek Park. A year later and

it’s a thriving pollinator
habitat and an important
reminder to plant more native

pollinator plants.

18

Beautification

For many years Keep Suffolk Beautiful
has been supporting the Suffolk

Partnership for a Healthy Community
with funding for its Community
Garden program.

This year we helped
again with a

$1,000 contribution

“We build gardens to build community. We
grow fruits and vegetables to grow healthy

children and adults. We sow seeds of
opportunity, education and activity to yield a
harvest of engaged and informed citizens who have access to more
affordable, nutritious food. We prioritize to meet the needs of the financially
disadvantaged during a period of economic uncertainty.
We build a stronger Suffolk.”

Working Together

19

Beautification

The Pond Planting Project

Keep Suffolk Beautiful, the Master
Naturalists and the Butterfly

Society of Virginia are working with
the City to pilot a program to plant

pollinator plants around a
City owned pond.

We asked
Savethemonarchs.org for a

pound of Milkweed
(Asclepias incarnata) seed
which we germinated and

started in pots.

After 8 weeks the plants were
ready. All the groups involved
got together to plant them on

the bank of the pond.
If successful, we hope to expand

the program to more ponds
throughout the city.

20

Beautification

On a chilly December morning, a group of volunteers answered the call to come
out and cleanup the new section of the Seaboard Coastline Bike Trail. This
unopened section of trail was desperately in need of help. The volunteers

removed 103 tires, over 150 bags of trash and collected a pile of larger debris.
The trail is now open, beautiful and has recently been adopted.

21

As Suffolk continues to grow, the Commission will strive to increase its
community engagement. We want to increase the number of cleanups
throughout the city and encourage residents to join the Adopt-a-Street / Spot
programs.

The Commission would also like to host more recycling drives and provide this
valuable service to both the downtown and North Suffolk areas. In recent
drives we have successfully included the Foodbank, Lions Club and partnered
with SPSA Household Hazardous Waste, document shredding and Goodwill.

Tire dumping is a problem throughout the City and the Commission continues
to support efforts to reduce this illegal activity by hosting the tire amnesty
days, organizing cleanups and educating the public.

The Commission is also refining its efforts in regards to beautification. We
have a grant program in place for organizations and individuals to apply.
Encouraging the planting of native species, especially pollinator friendly
plants, and trees is very important moving forward.

In addition, educational outreach will continue to be a priority for the
Commission. Building on partnerships with Suffolk Public Libraries, Suffolk
Parks and Recreation, Suffolk Public Schools and the many other organizations
we work with is essential to behavior change regarding litter prevention and
promoting positive recycling habits.

Moving Forward

22

For more information about Keep Suffolk Beautiful or
to get involved please contact us:
(757) 514-7604
[email protected]

Please Recycle