BATON ROUGE - Jennifer Richardson, founder of Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, received the first-ever key to the city of St. George for the work her nonprofit has done over the years. 

"It was a total shock," Richardson said. "The mayor texted me, and he said, 'Are you coming to the council meeting because I have something for you.' I thought he was going to give me some contractor bags."

Instead of contractor bags, St. George Mayor Dustin Yates presented her with the first key to the city on Sept. 23. 

Richardson founded Keep Tiger Town Beautiful in 2021 when she noticed litter on Essen Lane. After one Facebook post, 15 people arrived to help her clean it up. The volunteers that morning picked up 42 bags worth of trash in just three hours.

Since then, the nonprofit has cleaned up enough trash in the capital region to fill 37,000 garbage bags and has put out 157 roadside trash cans. Richardson credited her organization's success to all of the volunteers.

“These people go out every day, they work their tails off trying to keep the city clean," Richardson said. "They do it around the clock, all day long, and they are the finest people I know.”

Over the years, others have aided the nonprofit's efforts without hoisting a trash bag.  

“I didn’t even have a truck or a van, so we got a truck donated to us, and these are all people I didn’t know who they were," Richardson said. "We got a truck donated to us, a van donated to us, a trailer donated to us, and a warehouse donated to us.”

To join Richardson and Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, click here.