New Math: $5,000 = $11,500 and growing

In spite of the economic downturn local nonprofit Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful has found an innovative way to keep donor funds flowing through dollar for dollar matches with local landscape contrac

tor, Reno Lawn & Landscape. Now this innovative community organization is looking for other area businesses to match Reno Lawn & Landscape’s match. The landscaper will donate $5,000 in a dollar-for-dollar donation match for quality-of-life leader, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful. “Contributions have become more difficult to come by in this economic climate,” states Christi Cakiroglu, Executive Director of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (KTMB). According to Cakiroglu, as a “non-government agency operating solely on the charity of the community, this matching plan provides much needed support for ten education and beautification programs.”

“A couple of years ago we saw the economic downturn coming and thought, how can we help our individual supporters help us?” recalls Cakiroglu. “Reno Lawn & Landscape immediately got our vision and stepped in with a $5,000 match.” Since 2009 this dollar for dollar match has more than tripled KTMB’s individual donor giving, and now Reno Lawn and Landscape and KTMB are challenging other businesses to match Reno Lawn and Landscapes’ match. “This is the second year of this program and KTMB has exceeded their original goal. We would like to see other businesses support their programs,” stated Lebo Newman, Owner of Reno Lawn and Landscape.

Marketing director for Reno Lawn & Landscape, Steve Fine, is excited to partner with the non-profit. “We really hope the residents of the Truckee Meadows can rise to the challenge and take full advantage of this match,” says Fine. “KTMB is so dedicated to maintaining our high-quality of living – both within and around our neighborhoods. It’s been an easy decision to support them.” According to Fine our community has benefited from a number of long-running volunteer and service programs “many of which you probably didn’t know were run by KTMB.” Take recycling for example. “Have you ever recycled your old phone book at local drop-off locations? They have recycled more than 100 tons of these old books this year. What about your Christmas tree after the holiday? You and your neighbors were able to recycle 11,000 these trees just last year thanks to this organization. And the chips help year-round in park, river and open space projects to prevent weeds, erosion and promote beautification.”