Keeping Lawrence County clean just keeps getting better and better for Dan Palmer, director of the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District.

Recently Lawrence and Scioto counties joined with 11 other counties in the area to form a local chapter of the Keep America Beautiful organization. Now forming Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful may start paying some substantial dividends.

“You become aware of these national sponsors,” Palmer said.

That means the local organization can apply for national grants, Palmer discovered after a meeting with the new affiliate.

“I came back and that whole week I was doing nothing but writing grants,” he said. “I don’t sit. I go after them.”

Among those possible grants could be a $20,000 one from Lowe’s that could mean funds for landscape work around the county and another one from Coca Cola for recycling containers.

“(With Lowe’s) the community can purchase trees, shrubbery and flowers,” Palmer said. “With $20,000 I can do a lot with that. And the recycling containers are nice mesh ones that Coke will ship directly to you. They want to make sure that money goes strictly to recycling containers.”

Already Coca Cola has teamed up locally with the Scioto-based bottling plant agreeing to provide all the beverages for this spring’s Great American Cleanup.

“(They are) bringing two trailers and setting up one or two tents,” Palmer said.

Recently the solid waste district was one of 116 in the nation chosen by Troy-Bilt to receive a new weed eater and backpack blower.

Letters have gone out to 46 groups expected to join in the one-day cleanup around the county. Those who know they will be participating should contact Palmer by April 6 to make sure there will be T-shirts for them.

Besides church and civic groups joining in the cleanup this year will be Rome, Union, Fayette, Elizabeth, Lawrence and Perry townships.

“I am ecstatic over that, that we have that many townships,” Palmer said. “That is where our tonnage comes from. They bring in the rolloff (waste containers).”

Also new to the event will be South Point schools.

“Each and every person is important to us,” he said. “We want to make it even bigger. The growth we have had in five years is tremendous. We have volunteers from elementary school kids to AARP. You have a wide spectrum of people.”

This year’s countywide cleanup will be May 5.