Contributed by: Jason Cuozzo/The Firefly Group on 6/17/2009
Palm City, FL - Every year volunteers spend many tireless hours working to improve Martin County through an event known as the Great American Cleanup. The event, coordinated nationally by Keep America Beautiful, is the country's most prevalent community improvement program and is spearheaded locally by Keep Martin Beautiful.
As well as the standard litter removal activities, Keep Martin Beautiful put together four community improvement projects and named the program the Extreme Martin Makeover. One of these projects was the painting of a mural at the brand new Boys & Girls Club of Palm City, located at 1150 SW Martin Downs Boulevard.
Renowned local mural artist Kelly Arnold led about 90 volunteers in the painting of the mural on an exterior wall of the new Boys & Girls Club. Kids and adults alike enjoyed transforming what was once a blank wall into an active Florida lake habitat with landscape designs, as well as paintings of land and water wildlife. Mat Churchey of the Boys & Girls Club was delighted by the finished mural. "We are extremely pleased with the work done by all of our great volunteers. We are proud to have this wonderful mural as a part of our new building here in Palm City," said Churchey.
Waste Management provided the funding needed by Keep Martin Beautiful to make this project feasible. Waste Management is an ongoing supporter of the Great American Cleanup, making donations such as this one through the Waste Management Showcase grant. "The Boys & Girls Club is an exceptional organization and we are more than happy to help make their wonderful new mural come to life," said Jeff Sabin of Waste Management.
Last month, volunteers were treated to a thank you lunch provided by Waste Management and Keep Martin Beautiful. Employees from Waste Management manned the grill, and about 40 volunteers enjoyed great food as well as a tour of the new Boys & Girls Club.
This project is a great example of what can be accomplished by the collaboration of corporate companies and non profit organizations. Keep Martin Beautiful President Rhonda Irons praised the results of the project. "The mural is one of the many features that helps make the new Boys & Girls Club facility a special place. The project also fits in with Keep Martin Beautiful's goal to encourage beautification and community improvement efforts," Irons said.
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