Litter Hawk Youth Award Program Combines Fun, Prizes and Litter Awareness for Grades K through 6

(October 27, 2022) Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is announcing the Litter Hawk Youth Award Program, a recognition program for students in Kindergarten through 6th Grade, who complete a designated project specific to their grade level. Kids can participate individually or as part of a lesson initiated by schools, home-schools, scout troops, 4-H clubs, environmental clubs or other organized groups.

The Litter Hawk Youth Award Program is a way for kids to share their hope, optimism and concerns about litter and inspire others to care for their communities through art, words or video. In response to Pennsylvania’s new anti-littering education campaign, PA Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters, the theme is: Show Us How Every Litter Bit Matters to You. Projects include:

  • Grades Kindergarten through 4 – Poster
  • Grades 5 and 6 – Essay or video

Two entries will be selected as winners in each grade level. First place will receive a $50 gift card. First runner-up will receive $25 gift card. All participants will be recognized with certificates. The deadline to participate is January 31. Winners will be announced in April in time for Earth Day celebrations.

The Wolf Administration released its Litter Action Plan in 2021 in response to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s 2019 Litter Research Study which found Pennsylvania has more than 500 million pieces of litter on its roadways. As part of the plan, the state launched a public awareness campaign, PA Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters, this summer. The campaign calls upon Pennsylvanians to ensure every piece of their trash, regardless of size, is disposed of properly.

“We wanted to help bring awareness to the state’s new anti-littering campaign by incorporating it into this years’ Litter Hawk theme and have students show us and tell us how every piece of trash matters when keeping our neighborhoods clean and beautiful! Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful believes that engaging youth in protecting the environment not only creates a direct impact on changing behaviors and attitudes, but also influences their friends and families,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “We are all responsible for keeping our communities clean and beautiful. This program provides a fun and easy way for students to illustrate respect for the environment and their community.”

The Litter Hawk Youth Award program was created with funding provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. For more information, downloadable promotional posters and an online entry form, visit https://www.keeppabeautiful.org/grants-awards/awards/litter-hawk/. Additional questions can be answered by Michelle Dunn at mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org or 877-772-3673 ext. 113.

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About Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s vision is a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Since 1990, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has worked with hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the state to pick up nearly 152 million pounds of trash from Pennsylvania’s roadways, waterways, greenways, vacant lots, forestlands and other community spaces. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s core programming focuses on litter and illegal dump prevention, cleanup, community greening, and proper waste handling and sustainable practices. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful works with many partnering organizations on the state and grassroots level to accomplish our goal of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. To learn more about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, visit www.keeppabeautiful.org.

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