Keep Islip Clean is a non-for-profit, volunteer organization that seeks to promote community beautification throughout the hamlets of Islip, New York on Long Island. The program is one of the largest of its kind covering the entire township of Islip.
History
The organization was formed in the late 1980s largely in response to the infamous Mobro 4000Garbage Barge incident. The KIC commissioners are concerned citizens from each of Islip's 18 hamlets who represent their own individual communities and act as the liaison between KIC, local groups and their community. KIC has developed many different programs designed to help Islip achieve its goal at being a model for a litter-free community. KIC is an affiliate Keep America Beautiful.
KIC organizes a massive volunteer effort every Earth Day to clean up wetlands along the Orowoc Creek in Islip, New York. The program has been credited with mobilizing many youths in the area to get involved in community affairs.
Educational Curriculum
KIC first devised an educational curriculum in the late 1990s. It consists of an elementary level program which includes lesson plans on volunteerism, litter prevention, environmental stewardship and graffiti prevention as well as activities and resources to assist classroom teachers in integrating KIC's goals of encouraging civic values and community service into their class' year of local studies. The curriculum was featured on News 12 Long Island in the spring of 1999 as the first of its kind led by Mike Davies and Marisa Eschmann and Liz Brown, Junior Commissioners at KIC. Due to its success in mobilizing student volunteers, many area schools have since implemented the curriculum.
Junior Commissioners
The Junior Commissioner Program is a component of KIC's Education Program. JCs are high school students who demonstrate environmental concern as well as social, civic and academic responsibility. These young people are representatives of their individual schools and communities. KIC's objective is to encourage and enable these young citizens to play an active role in making Islip a cleaner community in which to live and to instill in them a sense of pride and ownership for their community.
