“Western Nebraska is a clean, green and beautiful place to live.” I tend to agree, overall, with this opinion found on the Keep Sidney Beautiful website. Keep Alliance Beautiful and the five Keep America Beautiful affiliates in the Mountain Time Zone portion of our state each strive for this reality. The key is tailoring programs and priorities to the community being served.
Visitors, from longtime residents to people new in town, often have a question when stopping by the Alliance recycling center. If I wanted to drop off a bag of No. 1 and 2 plastic bottles in a Panhandle town on my way back from a trip, where is the most convenient place, say, along Highway 30? A good place to start would be the Keep Nebraska Beautiful website (www.knb.org). Scroll through the list of 21 community-based affiliates and the best bets on my drive from Cheyenne would be Kimball or Sidney. Below, is a listing of contacts for area KNB affiliates. There is value in knowing the strengths and offerings of these organizations. For example, a 4-H club planning a litter pickup would find they could receive a grant to clean a park in Terrytown or benefit from the free smartphone app while making sure the shore is spiffy at Big Mac.
Find out about everything from litter prevention and recycling to youth education and community beautification fro area KNB affiliates:
>Keep Chadron Beautiful, Susan Hucke, director
153 Bordeaux St., Chadron, NE 69337
308-432-3805
www.keepchadronbeautiful.org
>Keep Alliance Beautiful, Kathy Worley, executive director
PO Box 324, 320 Laramie Ave. (northeast entrance), Alliance, NE 69301
308-762-1729
>Keep Scottsbluff-Gering Beautiful, Cassidy Baum, executive director
100547 Airport Road, Scottsbluff, NE 69361
308-632-4649
http://keepscottsbluffgeringbeautiful.weebly.com; www.facebook.com/keepscottsbluffgeringbeautiful
>Keep Keith County Beautiful, Chris Vail, executive director
PO Box 673, Ogallala, NE 69153
308-289-0130
www.keepkeithcountybeautiful.com; www.facebook.com/KKCBNE
>Keep Kimball Beautiful, Spud Rowley, director
410 West Third St., Kimball, NE 69145
308-235-3202
>Keep Sidney Beautiful, Jason Nelke, director
740 Illinois St., Sidney, NE 69162
308-254-5851
www.keepsidneybeautiful.org