Stamford, Conn--September 27, 2007 -- Keep America Beautiful, Inc. today announced the City of Deming (N.M.) Police Department and YMCA of Riverside (Calif.) City & County are the recipients of $2,000 graffiti prevention grants from the 2007 Graffiti Hurts® National Grant Program. The grants are being awarded to entities in communities with populations over 300,000 and less than 300,000 in an effort to enhance their local graffiti prevention activities. The Graffiti Hurts® Grant Program, in its inaugural year, recognizes and rewards innovative, successful prevention efforts.
"The grant recipients provide wonderful examples of how local governments, police forces, civic groups and businesses all can work together to rid their communities of graffiti vandalism in a pro-active, sustainable manner," said G. Raymond Empson, president of Keep America Beautiful, Inc. "Thanks to The Sherwin-Williams Company, Keep America Beautiful has been able to catalyze communities across the country to embark on graffiti prevention initiatives through the Graffiti Hurts® program."
Graffiti Hurts® was developed in 1996 through a partnership between Keep America Beautiful, the nation's largest nonprofit education and community improvement organization, and The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW), maker of Krylon paint, to respond to the blight of graffiti vandalism in communities nationwide. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, graffiti contributes to lost revenue associated with reduced ridership on transit systems, reduced retail sales, and declines in property value.
The proposed programs include Deming's "Stamp Out Graffiti!", which will utilize its STAR (Specialized Treatment and Rehabilitation) Leadership Academy, a day "boot camp" for adjudicated youth, ages 12 to 18, who are on probation but attend school, to head up a coalition with the Deming School District and other local organizations. The pilot project will combine education, incentives and law enforcement, to reach its goal of reducing graffiti by 50 percent in targeted areas in the first year.
The YMCA of Riverside City & County will develop and protect a Graffiti-Free Zone within a one-mile radius of each of the two YMCA-operated Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) sites. The YMCA projects will use collaboration-building and graffiti identification to coordinate the achievement of a Graffiti-Free Zone with the business community and Riverside County's Graffiti Abatement efforts. The YOC youth will prevent and remove graffiti in an effort to demonstrate their pride in the community.
More than 140 applications were submitted for the Graffiti Hurts® National Grant Program, representing the best of local governments, police departments, schools, nonprofit volunteer organizations, and other groups dedicated to eradicating graffiti vandalism.
"Sherwin-Williams is committed to supporting innovative approaches to community improvement, including putting a stop to the proliferation of graffiti vandalism," said Harvey Sass, president & general manager, Diversified Brands Division, The Sherwin-Williams Company. "Graffiti Hurts is serving communities that are seeking new solutions to this national problem. We salute the 2007 grant program recipients for proposing forward-thinking solutions."
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc. and Graffiti Hurts®
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of nearly 1,000 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. For additional information, visit www.kab.org . For more information about Graffiti Hurts® and its resources to help communities prevent graffiti, visit www.graffitihurts.org or contact [email protected] .
