Keep Islip Clean is a non-for-profit, volunteer organization that seeks to promote community beautification throughout the hamlets of Islip (town), New York

Islip (town), New York

The Town of Islip is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York . Located on the south shore of Long Island, the town population was 322,612 at the 2000 census. The smaller, unincorporated hamlet of Islip lies within the town.-Demographics:...

 on Long Island. The program is one of the largest of its kind covering the entire township of Islip (pop. 322,612).

History

The organization was formed in the late 1980s largely in response to the infamous Mobro 4000

Mobro 4000

The Mobro 4000 was a barge made infamous in 1987 for hauling the same load of trash along the east coast of North America from New York to Belize and back until a way was found to dispose of the garbage...

 Garbage 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

Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful is a U.S. based nonprofit organization founded in 1953. It is the largest community improvement organization in the United States, with approximately 589 affiliate organizations and more than 1,000 community organizations that participate in their programs.Keep America...

.

Earth Day Initiative

KIC organizes a massive volunteer effort every Earth Day

Earth Day

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...

 to clean up wetlands along the Orowoc Creek in Islip (town), New York

Islip (town), New York

The Town of Islip is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York . Located on the south shore of Long Island, the town population was 322,612 at the 2000 census. The smaller, unincorporated hamlet of Islip lies within the town.-Demographics:...

. 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

News 12 Long Island

News 12 Long Island is a regional 24-hour cable news television channel reaching more than 800,000 television homes on Long Island, New York. The channel is the flagship of the News 12 Networks, which is touted by owner Cablevision as the "first, largest and most watched regional news network" in...

in the spring of 1999 as the first of its kind led by Mike Davies, a Junior Commissioner at KIC. Due to its success in mobilizing student volunteers, many area schools have since implemented the curriculum.

Junior Commissioners

The Junior Commissioner (JC) 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.