Evansville Wins State Community Achievement Award

The Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT) announced that Evansville has been named a 2013 IACT Community Achievement Award winner for its 'Clean Evansville' project. The City of Evansville will receive its award during the Annual Awards Luncheon presented by Umbaugh, Monday, October 7, at the 2013 IACT Annual Conference & Exhibition in Indianapolis.

Clean Evansville began in January 2012 by Mayor Lloyd Winnecke just three days into his term. Eighteen months into the Clean Evansville effort, more than 2,000 volunteers have picked up more than 40,000 pounds of trash.

“What makes this program special and really unique is that it is a mostly volunteer effort. There is no budget,” said Mayor Winnecke. “Keep Evansville Beautiful coordinates Clean Team volunteers and distributes supplies, Rural King provides gloves and Republic Waste Services hauls the trash to the landfill at no extra charge. Companies including Vectren, Fifth Third Bank, Old National Bank and Accuride routinely encourage their employees to volunteer and get involved.”

Local schools regularly participate in Clean Evansville and hosts contests challenging the students to pick up the most trash. The day concludes with a ceremonial “dumping into the dumpster” when the trash bags are all gathered into one pile. Beyond the tangible results, this community-wide effort offers a good reminder to everyone in Evansville to pick up and keep the city clean.

IACT Executive Director and CEO Matt Greller noted, “The IACT Annual Awards Program honors projects and people that convey a true commitment to the betterment of Hoosier cities and towns. Clean Evansville is the perfect initiative to showcase what our awards program is all about.”