Leadership Achievement Award 
This is a new, special award that provides recognition for outstanding, long-term contributions to the community in support of beautification activities which  enhance community pride and improve the quality of life here in Jacksonville. It is instituted as a special award rather then as a standing annual category.

Anna Dooley: As immediate past Chair of the Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Commission, Anna has had a lasting impact on the grass roots, volunteer organization and its efforts to promote beautification throughout our community. She was the driving force behind a revised mayoral executive order that expanded the size and scope of the volunteer group to 29 active members who represent a wide range of community sectors and who have helped galvanize the Commission’s activities. She was instrumental in creating a first ever partnership between the Commission and UF & Shands Jacksonville to clean up the neighborhood surrounding the urban medical campus. Anna graciously agreed to serve beyond her successful initial term, balancing her tenure as chair of KJB with her “day job” as Executive Director of Greenscape, Jacksonville’s pre-eminent non-profit tree planting organization. Anna continues to be actively involved in the Commission, and has volunteered to serve as chair for a new annual citywide cleanup of her design, called “Shine in ’09,” which will debut May 16, 2009.

Individual
Sarah Nan: Sarah Nan is passionate about litter prevention and cleaning up the environment.  A volunteer for the Watershed Action Volunteer (WAV) program, in 2008 the Riverside resident logged 160 volunteer hours marking storm drains, leading and participating in watershed cleanups, assisting with water education programs and participating in environmental events. She has also participated in numerous neighborhood cleanups, including the City’s annual St. Johns River Celebration, July 5th beaches cleanup, and cleanups associated with Tropical Storm Fay. Sarah regularly coordinates and helps with trash and cigarette litter cleanups, including the City’s cigarette litter survey in which she and other volunteers collected more than 4,000 cigarette butts in a two block area. Inspired by that cleanup, the congenial Sarah organized another cigarette litter campaign, coordinating volunteers to remove more than 9,600 cigarette butts in a three-hour period at a local medical facility. Sarah’s concern for the St. Johns River prompted her to take the City’s two-day Erosion and Sedimentation Control Inspector’s training to learn more about how individuals can affect the health of the river.

Organization 
Glynlea Park Neighborhood Association: For years, the Glynlea Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA) has consistently demonstrated its commitment to beautifying and maintaining its Arlington community. A participant in the City’s Adopt-A-Road program since 2005, the group has maintained two designated roads and conducts daily roadway litter pickup. In 2008, the group of seven dedicated volunteers, led by association president Kathy Wicklund, documented 256 hours and collected more than two tons of trash, litter and junk.  They also developed, constructed and maintain a beautiful entrance sign and planted seasonal flowers. Last year they added decorative stones and an irrigation system. The group has also been active in educational efforts. Members distributed packets door-to-door to some 917 homes that contained brochures relating to solid waste collection, code compliance and community safety issues. GPNA members also purchased and installed three permanent decorative park benches for neighborhood traffic islands. The group won an “Award of Distinction” from JaxPride, for sprucing up five common areas, and removing invasive plants from fencing and entrance roadways.

Business
City Cycle: When City Cycle owner Drew Johnson moved his business to its new location at 2740 Park Street last year, he brought with him a number of changes to the once dilapidated building and heavily “tagged” Riverside neighborhood. City Cycle transformed the unmaintained eyesore of a building by gutting and refurbishing its interior and repainting the exterior. It also replaced dead, overgrown vegetation outside with thriving, attractive plants. Cycle City didn’t stop there. Recycling bins were brought in to reduce the amount of material ending up in the dumpster. Johnson’s efforts extended beyond his building when he went to work fighting graffiti after his and other Riverside businesses were “tagged.” He painted over the unwanted “artwork,” then took photographs of the damage. Next, he set to work on catching the culprits-- securing surveillance footage of them, posting flyers and speaking with the community and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. His efforts paid off. Two people responsible for the graffiti were arrested and ordered to clean up their messes. City Cycle also helps the neighborhood by organizing several cleanups and participating in the City’s annual International Coastal Cleanup.

Elementary School
R.V. Daniels Elementary School: Students and teachers of this non-dedicated magnet school that serves students in grades 3 to 5 and whose theme is gifted and academically talented, take great pride in maintaining a safe, clean and green campus.
This is evidenced by students, who routinely pick up litter around campus, reinforcing lessons in Science class that teach them about Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. It’s also demonstrated through the school’s Dads of Daniels (D.A.D.s) club, that organized a campus wide  cleanup in which parents, children and faculty planted flowers, trimmed bushes, laid mulch and cleaned up the school’s parking lot. And to reinforce what they’re learning in class, students utilize the school’s compost center for biodegradable trash. Compost is used in large and small scale gardens that serve as living laboratories. In fact, one such garden, called the Books and Bouquets Garden, made possible by a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant, was the project of Susan Burns’ second grade students. They designed the landscape plan, priced plants and mentor other young horticulturalists to maintain the garden. Students also partnered with local organic farmers to grow vegetables and even created a butterfly garden

Middle School
Fletcher Middle School:  A casual stroll through the campus shows that teachers and students are living up to their motto, “Fletcher Middle School Where We’re Making a Difference.” Various academic teams and clubs have adopted portions of the campus to clean, beautify and maintain, and signs with their team names are proudly displayed. An “outdoor classroom” between the Media Center and the Science wing was created, which boasts some of the 21 trees that were planted here and in front of the school and where students are raising butterflies that will be released in campus gardens. Students fashioned a natural setting complete with an attractive wooden bridge that spans a beautiful garden and leads to a pathway with pavers that are painted with inspirational sayings, including their favorite: Re-duce, Re-Use, Re-Cycle. Students backed that saying up with a recycling program in the school’s cafeteria, collecting an average of thee large bags of plastic bottles every week. Faculty have been working to educate its Beach community, hosting a Splash Into Science Night, in which more than 450 people attended.

High School 
Alden Road Exceptional Student Center: Built in 1975 as a school to serve K - 12 students who had moderate mental handicaps, Alden Road Exceptional Center today serves a population of 230 students in grades 6 – 12 who are in full-time exceptional student education (ESE) and who are among the most enthusiastic environmentalists. Students in Alison Barat’s Life Skills classes have initiated a community service campus clean-up program, and every week all of her students participate in a variety of activities designed to improve the campus and teach them about service. Activities range from sweeping the school’s main entrance, bus loop and sidewalks to washing and scrubbing doors and railings. Every week prior to the cleanups, students are read a short story about service that illustrates a positive work ethic and motivates them to be good servants and take pride in their school community. Additionally, students participate in a weekly litter prevention education activity—they’re given bags and gloves and dutifully and enthusiastically walk around campus picking up any and all garbage they see. They are so proud of the work they do that they remind their teacher every Monday, “Mrs. Barat, don’t forget … Wednesday we have to go pick up trash!” Through these activities, students were able to earn badges from the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
Sgt. Donald Smith & Officer Wayne Dees: Sgt. Donald Smith and Office Wayne Dees partnered with the I.M. Sulzbacher Center to create and implement the H.O.M.E. (Homeless Outreach through Monitoring and Enforcement) Program, an effort that offers assistance, rather than incarceration, to the homeless population and utilizes inmate labor to conduct homeless camp site cleanups at parks and other publically-owned property in JSO’s Zone 4. At a time when government and other organizations are operating on reduced budgets, the H.O.M.E. Program saves taxpayers dollars. Since the program’s inception, cleanups have been conducted at Tillie Fowler Park, Riverside Park, the Northbank Riverwalk, and several other locations, including homeless camps on Normandy Boulevard, Lenox Avenue, I 295 & 103rd Street, I 295 & Roosevelt Boulevard and the 8100 block of Argyle Forest Boulevard. Thousands of pounds of debris, furniture, tents, trash, clothing and other items were collected in the operation—more than 24,600 pounds were bagged at four camps located at or near the Northbank Riverwalk. As crews cleaned up the camps, many pedestrians walking overhead complimented them for helping to make the Riverwalk a more attractive and safer place, especially for women walkers and joggers.