KIB is woven into the fabric of this city, and truly thousands of volunteers could tell our story in a myriad of ways. While much of the work we do today differs compared to our first days in 1976, we’ve preserved our core essence, while regularly stimulating progress toward the thriving of Indy’s people, its neighborhoods, and its environment.
It was John Gunther, an American journalist most known for his work Inside USA that wrote these words about Indianapolis in 1947: a “raw, dirty and unkempt city…” A city, Gunther wrote, travelers should avoid, really, as they made their way through the Midwest.
In the 1960’s and ’70’s, civically minded women calling themselves the Keep Indiana Beautiful Club began to clean streets and alleys. Many of these ladies were part of Lockerbie’s ultimate renaissance and historic designation, and were praised and featured often by The Indianapolis Star/News!
Many years after Inside USA, Bill Hudnut read Gunther’s words. It fortified his vision for a vibrant downtown, city, and county. In his first year in office, he created KIB (then staffed by a part-time person in city government, and called the Indianapolis Clean City Committee, or ICCC.) This was an era when civic and political leaders were actively shaping the Indianapolis we know today—IUPUI, White River State Park, a basketball arena, the early ideas for a downtown shopping mall—and the ICCC. Indianapolis residents may remember before the internet, and in a time of just four or five television channels, there was Bill Hudnut’s public service announcement, warmly labeled “The Hudnut Hook.” In the television ad, the mayor encouraged Indy residents to put litter in its place—and we were off, launching education campaigns, visiting schools with the anti-littering message, and joining the pioneering Keep Indiana Beautiful Club that was cleaning up our city’s downtown neighborhoods.
From Clean to Green to Thriving
With Bill Hudnut’s encouragement, civic leaders incorporated the Indianapolis Clean City Committee as a non-profit organization in 1981, and soon expanded beyond anti-litter campaigns into environmental education and drop-off recycling. Today, KIB’s mission is working with diverse communities to create vibrant places, helping people and nature thrive. It is a national leader in its field; the largest among 1,000 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, and among the most influential Arbor Day Foundation’s alliance of two hundred community forestry groups. Its Adopt-A-Block program supports nearly 1,000 volunteers; and our youth employment efforts help create the next generation of leaders in Indy.
Partnerships with artists and designers are creating hyper-local, authentic neighborhood parks and school grounds for people and nature, often in places once forgotten, neglected, or the result of economic disinvestment. Recent initiatives to lead citizen scientists in counting Indy’s pollinators, and activating shared community greenspaces with art, music and literature have spurred a liveliness in the city. Vibrant Corridors, have added community-inspired art under dark and unwelcoming connections between the downtown business district and adjacent neighborhoods.
Today’s KIB is a research partner, with Indiana and Butler universities, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s work has been the subject of international academic literature, and has led to discoveries important to the thriving of urban people and the living world.
The Next 40 Years
Gunther might be happy to know that KIB is still picking up litter; enough each year to stack Lucas Oil field several stories tall!
And, KIB is creating our community’s authentic places for people and the natural world. Our work is distinctive, in that in a very local way, the community informs, creates and cares for these places.
KIB is in the business not only of creating cleaner and greener environments, but also making them livelier, healthier, more diverse, more distinctive, and more loved. Beyond the physical landscape, KIB transforms the human landscape as well. Our work helps people and communities be happier, healthier, safer, more involved, more proud, more connected and more capable. The magic happens on vacant lots and single blocks; it happens in neighborhoods, parks, greenways, and even on the immense amount of gray infrastructure that for better or worse, binds us together.
Let’s celebrate these magical 40 years—and toast to the next 40! Join us on September 17, 2016 at the 1899 Experience Venue for KIB’s annual THRIVE fund-raiser. This year we will raise funds for our work at a 70’s theme bash; where we will not only honor KIB’s past, but also highlight what our organization has in store for the next 40 years.
Proceeds from this far-out fundraising event directly support the work of KIB—engaging diverse communities to create vibrant public places, helping people and nature thrive. Guests are encouraged to wear “70’s chic cocktail” attire. Check out www.kibi.org/thrive to learn more about this awesome event—from a Pinterest board dedicated to finding you the right outfit, to sneak peeks of the program-specific silent auction, and info on purchasing tickets.
As a special celebration for our 40th anniversary we are hosting an Afterglow event immediately following THRIVE. This event will feature signature cocktails, a live 70’s band, dessert bar and tons more. If you can’t make it to the dinner portion of THRIVE, we hope you consider attending the Afterglow—can you dig it?!
