Nominations Open For The Fourth Annual Project Front Yard Awards

It's time to nominate organizations and individuals who have done a great job on helping to improve our community.

Last year awards were presented in four categories, and new winners are being sought for the following categories:

• Best in Cleanliness
• Best in Beautification
• Best in Education
• Best Overall Project Front Yard Effort

A ceremony to honor the winners will be held by IBERIABANK and the Lafayette Mayor-President's Office on Thursday, October 5, 2017.

Lafayette Mayor-Presiodent Joel Robideaux said,

"There are so many organizations and individuals who work tirelessly to improve the face of Lafayette Parish, not for the recognition, but because they are passionate about creating a cleaner and more beautiful community. These are exactly the types of nominations we hope to receive."

IBERIABANK Acadiana President Jerry Vascocu says, "Project Front Yard works to make Lafyaette a more beautiful place, and IBERIABANK is honored to highlight those who are making that happen."

Anyone who lives or works in Lafayette Parish, and organizations in Lafayette Parish are eligible to be nominated to win an award.

You have until Friday, September 22 to make your nominations. You can go to http://www.projectfrontyard.com to get all the information and forms you need for the awards contest.

Last year the following people and organizations were honored with awards for their commitment to Project Front Yard:

• Best in Cleanliness was presented to Cristy Savoie and Lance Strother for their flood recovery efforts with Saint Thomas More High School. These two individuals, with the support of their STM family, worked diligently to get homes ready for reconstruction. Through their inspiring leadership, students were able to directly witness how collective effort and service to others can benefit the larger community.
• Best in Beautification was presented to June Faul for her efforts in revitalizing the Historic Azalea Trail. Because of Faul's efforts, more than 200 azaleas have been planted along the 22 mile trail, Lafayette was named an "Azalea City" by the Azalea Society of America, and an archive manual was created for historical record keeping of the history of the trail from the 1930s until today.
• Best in Education was presented to local business owners Jeremy Broussard with Engel & Voelkers and Levi Kastner with Liberty Mutual. Broussard and Kastner were instrumental in supporting PFY's annual Plastic Bag Roundup. Thanks to their support, the project collected more than 11,000 pounds of plastic bags from 29 area elementary and middle schools during the 2016-2017 school year. The collected plastic bags from the project are remanufactured into a plastic and wood composite decking material.
• Best Overall Project Front Yard Effort was presented to CGI as an integral business partner and sponsor of several community projects focused on cleanliness, beautification and education including: electronic waste recycling, Festival International's "Geaux Green" initiative, litter cleanups, the 24 Hour Citizen Project, and the Vermilion River story mapping. CGI has embraced the spirit of PFY through these and many other activities and is a critical corporate partner in the Lafayette community that donates their resources, both in-kind and monetary, as well as the resources of their members.