Trying to achieve a goal without a lot of cash is something many parent groups are familiar with. When the Malabar Elementary Parent Club in Los Angeles, the 2010 winner for Outstanding Job on a Completed Major Project, set out to improve the school grounds, the group didn’t have much money. But members did have a clear goal and a devotion to making their school better. First they recruited more than 250 volunteers to convert a vacant lot next to the school into a reading garden. After that success, parent club leaders planned a second Beautification Day event that attracted more than 1,500 participants, a crew that was able to clean up the school grounds in two hours.
