Keep Alliance Beautiful makes a run to Hemingford every other week to gather recycling from participating businesses and switch out the ten black cubes on the trailer for empty ones. Instead of passing by the Farmers Cooperative elevator like usual during a late-summer trip, G.O. had Lonnie and I stop by their office to ask about used bulk fertilizer totes. The manager had eight on hand and told us we could have them. In the weeks since, Farmers Co-op has donated at least that many more square totes as well as several round ones.
Barb Niehues, KAB resource coordinator, documented the arrival of the former agricultural chemical vessels as an in-kind donation, valuing each tote at $500 for grant application purposes. The transaction piqued my curiosity about how in-kind works at our Keep America Beautiful affiliate.
The totes, an aluminum cage over a No. 2 (milk jug type) plastic, have tangible worth to our daily recycling operations. Most of the about 60 locations where we regularly pick up cardboard use KAB-provided totes. Anything not baled — paper, tin/steel cans, electronics — is shipped out in these containers. At times when we are unable to garner enough totes coming back empty on the return trip, another source helps immensely. So, while I may not have pegged the value of a single-use container that we have to clean and cut the top off of at half a grand, this particular donation and dozens of others every year allow KAB to continue serving the community.
Niehues and Chandra Krug, KAB financial associate, took time on a recent afternoon to discuss in-kind. Grants from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) and Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) require this type of match. For NDEE the waste grant takes a 50 percent in-kind match while public education and recycling need 100 percent. All the in-kind categories of personnel, operations-office/lots/shed, advertising and accountant, and supplies are also matched to NET.
As the months pass, Niehues and Krug account for in-kind on the current budget. The grand total for 2021 NET grants is $69,569: Public Education $41,879, Recycling $15,330 and Waste $12,360. In-kind amounts may be spread among grants and listed by time of the year.
Looking at the in-kind budget, I gained a greater appreciation of how the community supports KAB. Use of our downtown office space and the lots housing all the recycling trailers are donated, for example. A local business provides accounting services. Radio ads/morning show and this column represent more than $20,000.
Personnel and supplies are the two most fluid ways of supporting KAB. Our board members’ hours count though a significant source of in-kind comes from cleanups and other volunteers. NDEE gives an hourly rate of $26.40 for adults and $9 for youth. Just fill out a brief sheet from our office and that highway cleanup will count toward grant funding.
Supplies do not have to be something as large as a 275-gallon fertilizer tote. “If you have anything that is in good shape or usable, we can take it off your hands,” Niehues said. KAB education programs utilize donations stockpiled over the years.
In-kind is the vehicle that drives KAB. Grab a seat and come along for the ride. If you have some time to spend or supplies for the trip give us a call at 308-762-1729.