Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced they have awarded Celina Seftas from Keep Huntingdon County Beautiful with their President’s Award at their Annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner held December 11 at the Fred Rogers Center on the St. Vincent College campus. 

The President’s Award for Distinction in Volunteerism, developed in 2007, honors a volunteer who has demonstrated a sustained commitment and exceptional contributions to the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful mission.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful also honored outstanding programming work being done in their three focus areas of Prevent It, Clean It, and Keep It. The three award winners received Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Gold Shovel Award.  

The Prevent It! category went to PA CleanWays of McKean County for their annual unwanted household medical collection program. Since launching this program in 2008, PA CleanWays of McKean County has collected over 1,000 pounds of pharmaceuticals.

The Clean It! category went to Allegheny CleanWays for their Tireless Project.  This program is a collaborative endeavor of several organizations with a common interest in the waterways of Pittsburgh. Since its beginnings, more than 2,600 volunteers have extracted 173 tons of debris, including 2170 tires and 310 bags of recyclables from the rivers’ shores.

The Keep It! category went to the York County Solid Waste Authority (YCSWA) for their support of volunteer cleanups by providing York County volunteers with free disposal year round. They have also distributed thousands of KPB Open Your Eyes to Litter booklets and KPB education materials and this past year offered residents free tire disposal over a period of a month in support of Keep York County Beautiful to prevent and eliminate illegal dumping and to educate residents about proper tire disposal. 

Additionally, two corporate sponsors received a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Gold Shovel Award.

The Home Depot and BEHR Paint were awarded Gold Shovel Awards for their contributions in 2012 to various Community Greening and Beautification Programs including the Ohio Valley Region VA Hospital Community Beautification and Greening Project and Fresh Paint Days Pennsylvania.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful affiliates and local Keep America Beautiful affiliates nominated their own volunteer of the year and these volunteers were presented with an engraved walking stick as a tribute to their efforts to keep Pennsylvania beautiful.

Click Here for President’s Award winner.  Click Here for Golden Shovel Award winners.   Visit KPB’s Awards and Grants webpage for award winners over the years.

12/24/2012