Four Organizations Receive Graffiti Hurts® 2009 National Grants
Keep America Beautiful has announced that the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Crime Prevention & Control Commission, Denver, Colo.; City of Milwaukee (Wis.) Dept. of Neighborhood Services; and Keep San Antonio (Texas) Beautiful are recipients of $2,500 graffiti prevention grants through the 2009 Graffiti Hurts® National Grant Program. The Graffiti Hurts® Grant Program was initiated in 2007 to help communities enhance local graffiti prevention activities.
Program receiving grants include the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe’s “Unity Project,” which helps youth express their art within the framework of city laws. It will use grant funds to help youth learn from local law enforcement and other officials, understand how to gain approval for public art, and organize graffiti cleanups. Youth will also provide graffiti prevention education to peers and younger children.
The Crime Prevention & Control Commission in Denver will provide diversionary art and leadership skills to local youth as a substitute to graffiti vandalism. Students will be taught marketable art skills and the placement of their murals. Students will also receive Graffiti Hurts® curriculum through an after-school program.
The City of Milwaukee Dept. of Neighborhood Services will implement a graffiti intervention program. The goal is for youth to educate their peers through radio commercials they create. These PSAs will be developed through a city-sponsored contest for a 30-second anti-graffiti commercial. The winning PSA will run on radio and on the Web.
Finally, Keep San Antonio Beautiful will add a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design component as part of their overall anti-graffiti program. The program, call Place Light Upon Graffiti (or PLUG), will disseminate solar-powered motion detectors to businesses and homeowners who have chronic graffiti. Ten applicants will receive energy efficient lighting to improve safety and discourage graffiti vandalism.
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True or False? Graffiti is the most common type of property vandalism.
