Let’s get ready to celebrate! We can start thinking of spring, warmer weather, the countryside turning green and probably a great deal of litter and trash on the roadsides and the landscape. With these thoughts we need to start putting plans together for our “Spring Housecleaning” for Iowa that mean’s fix-up, clean-up, paint-up and plant-up projects around our communities and countryside. Use your imagination on how you, your service club or organization can make Iowa beautiful and to celebrate your efforts! Challenge the people around you at work to join in and help with spring cleaning Iowa.

Keep Iowa Beautiful is encouraging the idea of proclaiming April as Keep Iowa Beautiful month. It is a way of celebrating the good work that individuals and communities are doing around Iowa. With that in mind, we would like to announce as many beautification projects as possible during the month of April. The challenge to every Iowan is to pick your project that will improve Iowa and get ready to tackle it in the spring.

Examples of projects could include:

Help your organization or service club prepare an application for a beautification grant if you are in a community of 5,000 or under. Grants are available for up to $5,000 check out our webpage www.keepiowabeautiful.com under the grants segment. Deadline is April 2nd, 2012.

Apply for a “Paint Iowa Beautiful” program using Diamond Vogel Paint to paint a house in need, improve park facilities or maybe give a facelift to the downtown area. Paint grant application deadline is February 24th, 2012 (Check out our web page.

Spring clean up of a park or roadside area in your community actually consider “Adopting” a segment of road. Check of the KIB website or contact IDOT.

Help a neighbor that is disabled or unable to make home improvements by fixing up their fence or buildings that are in need of repair, mow their yard, etc.

Plant some flowers or trees in areas that deserve the effort (with approvals of course).

These are just a few of the many ways that you can celebrate spring housecleaning in Iowa. Have fun with your celebration, get some work done and by all means involve children and youth.

Don’t forget – tell us about your plans for helping to Keep Iowa Beautiful.