2011-2012 PRIDE Club Winner
March 7, 2012 by clackeyContest: Create PRIDE’s theme for 2012 and use the theme to design a T-shirt for the 2012 PRIDE Spring Cleanup
Winner: Mackenzie Walden, a seventh-grader at Corbin Middle School
Corbin Middle student wins for Spring Cleanup T-shirt design
Mackenzie Walden accepted the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month Award from Congressman Hal Rogers. On the right is her artwork, which won the contest to design the 2012 PRIDE Spring Cleanup T-shirts. On the left is one of the T-shirts, which will be given to thousands of volunteers who pick up litter in April.
Mackenzie Walden, a seventh-grader at Corbin Middle School, won a contest to design the T-shirts that will be given to thousands of volunteers during PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month in April. She is the daughter of Leigh and Lonnie Walden.
Mackenzie’s T-shirt design featured the slogan, “Saving Our World, One Cleanup at a Time.” Her idea was selected from 1,612 contest entries submitted by students across 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky.
On Feb. 13, Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-5), who founded PRIDE, congratulated Mackenzie and presented her with the first Spring Cleanup T-shirt during a school assembly. Mackenzie also received the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month Award for her contribution to the Spring Cleanup.
“Mackenzie, thank you for capturing the spirit of PRIDE in your design,” Rogers said. “I also thank your fellow PRIDE Club members here at Corbin Middle School and those students across the region who so creatively expressed the meaning of PRIDE in their contest entries.”
“It is no exaggeration that PRIDE volunteers are ‘saving our world, one cleanup at a time,’” Rogers said. “Every PRIDE cleanup improves our environment right now, and it discourages littering in the future. Since people tend to litter where they see trash on the ground, we break that cycle when we remove litter from our landscape. When we recruit new volunteers, we open their eyes to the blight of litter, and they become less likely to tolerate the problem.”
“We celebrate the 15th anniversary of PRIDE this year, and I am amazed to see how far we have come, one cleanup at a time” Rogers said. “For example, we have removed 2,869 illegal dumps and 958,000 tires from our landscape. That’s phenomenal.”
“It all starts with one cleanup and one volunteer — you,” Rogers reminded the students. “Be sure to volunteer during the PRIDE Spring Cleanup, and invite your family and friends to join you.”
During PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month in April, communities will recruit volunteers to pick up litter. PRIDE will provide free T-shirts, trash bags and gloves for the volunteers, as well as funding for local governments to dispose of litter, remove dumps and offer free trash drop-off events.
In 2011, there were 33,409 Spring Cleanup volunteers across the region, which was the largest turnout since PRIDE began in 1997.
The 2012 Spring Cleanup kick-off event will be Saturday, March 24, at the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Volunteers will receive a free PRIDE T-shirt, lunch and chance at door prizes. Volunteer registration will begin at 9 a.m. at the gift shop, and the cleanup will start at 10 a.m.
The 2012 Spring Cleanup sponsors are: Waste Connections of Kentucky, Gold Sponsor; Outdoor Venture Corporation, Silver Sponsor; and Lightyear Network Solutions, New Horizon Graphics and Owens Truck & Auto Parts, Bronze Sponsors.
To volunteer for the Spring Cleanup, call the PRIDE office, toll-free number, at 888.577.4339.
###
