Beautification and Community Greening
Research has shown that people are less likely to litter in attractive, well maintained areas. Keep the Midlands Beautiful therefore regularly obtains grant funding to help beautify the Midlands by adding trees and other landscaping in areas in need of attention. Below are a few examples of these efforts.
2023 and 2024 MLK Beautification Project
Sponsored by Melius Forum, Keep America Beautiful and Central SC Habitat for Humanity
Residents who attended a free, four-hour class on how and why to maintain their homes in order to make them less attractive to criminals were eligible to apply for our assistance. We spent $30,000 in grant funds improving the exterior safety and appearance of 11 homes of elderly and disabled residents. We installed and fixed ramps, railings, porches, decks, and fences, installed security cameras and lights, raked leaves, trimmed trees, planted flowers, and more!
2022 Tree Planting at Beechwood Middle School
Sponsored by Nucor Building Systems
Nucor donated trees to Green Step Schools two years in a row and helped us plant them.
2021 Tree Planting in Columbia’s North of Main (NOMA) District
Sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and Bank of America
We used a $50,000 grant to plant trees, bushes, and flowers in Columbia’s ‘North of Main’ (NOMA) district and provided training on environmental justice for at risk youth who helped to plant the trees.
2019 Tree Planting
Sponsored by TD Bank
