Nonprofit honors recycling champs

A number of South Shore and Brandon area individuals, groups and businesses were among the recent award nominees and winners at Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful's annual recognition luncheon.

Each was honored for significant community improvement efforts.

The 17-year-old nonprofit organizations depends on volunteers and funding partners to complete its mission, which includes preventing litter, promoting recycling and conservation, cleaning up and beautifying community areas and fostering stewardship.

Lisa, Chris and Alex Webber of Valrico were named the Most Committed Adopt-A-Shore Group for their work in Veterans Park on U.S. 301. Since November 2008, the family has given more than 260 hours of service and removed more than 500 pounds of litter from a one-mile stretch of shoreline. Alex Webber volunteered additional time to assist Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful with special projects throughout the year.

The 2009 Business Award went to Yard Guards on Doody in Riverview for exceeding the required number of cleanups in KHCB's Adopt-A-Road program. Cheresee Rehart, owner of the business, did more than pick up pet waste, said Christine Commerce, KHCB's executive director. Rehart, her children and their friends helped clean three adopted roads - portions of Bell Shoals Road in Riverview, FishHawk Boulevard in Lithia, and South Miller Road in Valrico - and a spot in front of their subdivision. During the past year, Yard Guards on Doody conducted 16 cleanups and picked up about 750 pounds of trash. The company has also participated in other community cleanups throughout the year.

"I saw signs all over the county and decided that we could make a difference by becoming involved," Rehart said. "I was really surprised to win this year because we had won twice before - once as a group and once as a business. I was very excited to be recognized again this year and plan to continue taking care of the roads."

During the 2008-09 school year, 10 schools participated in the Students for Recycling Program. KHCB awarded $500 grants to each of them, which came from a $5,000 grant from Wal-Mart. The group collected almost 170,000 pounds of recyclables.

Eisenhower Middle in Gibsonton collected the most recyclables, with a total of 34,390 pounds, an average of 22 pounds of per student. For the efforts, the children were honored with the Students for Recycling Award - Most Recyclables Collected Award.

Eisenhower kids are serious about recycling, said Dena Collins, school principal.

"For the past two years, we've gone schoolwide with this initiative," she said. "Our kids are very enthusiastic, and they're doing something that's good for the Earth, gives them a sense of school pride and builds community spirit. We're actually looking at expanding the program even more."

Other area schools in the recycling program were: Randall Middle in FishHawk, Mintz Elementary in Brandon and Symmes Elementary in Riverview.

Randall collected 17,742 pounds of recyclables or 11.7 pounds per student; Mintz collected 9,846 or 12 pounds each; and Symmes students finished with 30,092 - the second highest total - or 50.1 pounds apiece.

Mary Louise Murray of Wimauma, Deputy Rob Thornton of Ruskin and Mary Lou Luce of Apollo Beach were nominees in the individual category for their community efforts. Marie Claire Hahn of Riverview was nominated in the group category for her involvement with the Summer Springs Adopt-A-Pond project.

Christine Commerce, KHCB's executive director, said that ideally she would like to have given an award to everyone involved in keeping the county beautiful, but the luncheon at least enabled her to recognize those who "go above and beyond the call of duty."

KHCB is funded mainly through the Hillsborough County Solid Waste Management Department but seeks additional money to support and expand its programs, which include the Great American Cleanup, International Coastal Cleanup, Adopt-A-Road, Adopt-A-Shore and Adopt-A-Spot programs.

For information, call (813) 960-5121 or visit www.khcbonline.org.