KADB has $3.5 million impact during FY ‘17

ALBANY — Judy Bowles has been quietly going about her business with Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful for so long, she’s sometimes taken for granted.

Then, she offers her annual report to the Albany or Dougherty County Commission, and people realize just what kind of impact KADB and Bowles have on the community.

Bowles, the ageless grandmom whose energy is seemingly boundless, told Dougherty County commissioners Monday that the agency’s volunteers — “your constituents,” as she diplomatically put it — generated services that, were they assigned a “conservative dollar value,” would surpass $3.5 million in Fiscal Year 2017.

“For every dollar that the city and county have invested in Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful, there has been a $20 return value,” Bowles told commissioners. “That’s not a bad investment.”

Indeed, figures provided by Bowles in her report to the board showed more than 103,000 participants had put in 141,144 man-hours of service on KADB projects during the year. And some of the highlights are staggering:

— 38 tons of debris removed from 104.5 miles of roadway;

— 2 tons of debris removed from area waterways;

— Placement of 11 new “Thank You for Not Littering” signs;

— 12 new adopt-a-road participants;

— Distribution of 17,500 “Clean Business” tabloids;

— Participation of 14 county schools in KADB’s “Litter-Free School Zone” program;

— Help in removal of 611 root balls at homes impacted by storms in January;

— An Arbor Day planting of 20 large crepe myrtles on a major thoroughfare;

— Education programs implemented in the Dougherty County School System;

— Annual recycling event that saw 31,513 pounds of electronics reverted from landfills, 137.5 pounds of outdated/unwanted pills and 92.5 pounds of liquid medication collected, and 15,600 pounds of documents shredded, all free of charge.

“As you can see, it was a very successful year for Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful,” Bowles told the Dougherty Commission. “The success of our many projects shows that there is a great deal of interest by your constituents in keeping our community looking as good as it possibly can.”