An area of 340 square miles holding 739,000 people is large enough to contain numerous areas of need—as well as an army of active volunteers to help fill them. As it turns out, this is a description of Cobb County.
Of the 39 nonprofits in Cobb County, a number reported by countyoffice.org, East Cobb Lifestyle is spotlighting two worth your family's attention this summer: Cobb Collaborative and Keep Cobb Beautiful. Both are ready with wide-open arms to receive eager altruists.
Cobb Collaborative – Empowering Children, Families, Community
Focusing on three primary initiatives—mental health, literacy and civic engagement—Cobb Collaborative’s roots actually go back to the 1970s. It wasn’t until 1997, though, that the organization gained nonprofit status. In essence, today’s Cobb Collaborative is a place where citizens can join forces to meet community needs.
On the literacy front, for example, there are numerous ways for people to get involved and help increase access to books for those who don’t readily have it. Cobb Collaborative collects gently used books that are appropriate for ages birth through 12th grade and distributes them in under-resourced areas of the community. Individuals or groups can also sponsor a “Little Free Library” in their neighborhood; the group has set up more than 50 little libraries in the past two years.
The Collaborative’s podcast, Mind Your Mind Speaks, is a mental health initiative available online and features prominent Atlanta area doctors, such as Dr. Holli Kelly, director of the Marietta Vet Center.
Another program for veterans, Connecting Cobb Veterans, was launched in 2023 to help connect Cobb County’s 40,000+ veterans with needed services such as access to housing, food, clothing, education and medical care—with a “walking at your side” approach.
To learn how to help, visit cobbcollaborative.org.
Keep Cobb Beautiful – Fostering and Preserving the Environment
A hybrid organization of county staff members and a nonprofit board of directors, the mission of Keep Cobb Beautiful is to establish strong countywide environmental and waste management policies. The organization benefits from an affiliation with the national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful — which educates millions of Americans on issues surrounding solid waste — as well as a connection with the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation.
Keep Cobb Beautiful provides an organization for volunteers with a myriad of backgrounds to come together and generate public awareness, which can improve the local environment.
Keep Cobb Beautiful is funded by Cobb County Government, private contributors and recycling centers. Volunteers help promote environmental stewardship through activities like recycling, litter prevention, environmental education and beautification projects.
The organization also hosts community recycling events. These events include electronics, making them a great way to rid your home of outdated devices.
Keep Cobb Beautiful also hosts an annual household hazardous waste event, designed to help prevent harmful waste and toxins from entering water systems and the environment.
To learn more, visit cobbcounty.org/keep-cobb-beautiful.
