The PRIDE initiative promotes Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment in 38 counties in Southern and Eastern Kentucky.
The PRIDE initiative was launched in 1997 by Congressman Hal Rogers and the late General James Bickford(document will open in  , click here for  ), the former Secretary of the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet. Their vision was to restore the natural beauty of their native region by encouraging citizens to take responsibility for protecting their environment and by providing the education and resources they need to do so.
PRIDE unites citizens with the resources of federal, state and local governments in order to:
1. Improve water quality in the region.
2. Clean up illegal trash dumps and other solid waste problems.
3. Promote environmental awareness and education.
The first two goals are aimed at cleaning up the existing problems created by the region's two primary pollution sources: dumping trash illegally and discharging raw sewage through straight pipes or failing septic systems. The third goal addresses the need to break the cycle of pollution.
Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, Inc., a nonprofit organization, coordinates the initiative and operates grant programs to fund local efforts to accomplish the PRIDE goals. Volunteers, schools, local governments and nonprofit organizations do the work.
Eastern Kentucky PRIDE is funded by grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fund projects that support the PRIDE initiative.
 
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