Danielle Hightower started changing the landscape – literally – when she was 14.
That’s when her mother, Khalilah Chatman, first introduced her to Keep Port St. Lucie Beautiful.
Through Chatman’s nonprofit, Rise Above Youth Center for Excellence, Hightower and her two best friends started picking up litter along Southwest Rosser Boulevard and Southwest Aledo Lane as part of KPSLB’s Adopt-a-Street program.
“My mom’s nonprofit is about the youth,” Hightower said. “It’s about uplifting, empowering and educating, so what better way to do that with litter prevention and recycling in a community that the youth live in.”
Four years later, Hightower would grow her own Adopt-a-Street group, recruiting like-minded students keen on participating in a project with a common goal: to beautify and keep their community clean.
The 18-year-old’s leadership didn’t go unnoticed.
Hightower, now a freshman at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, was nominated by KPSLB as its Outstanding Youth Champion for promoting behavioral change on litter prevention, recycling and beautification through its Adopt-a-Street program.
Keep Florida Beautiful, KPSLB’s parent organization, recognized her passion, too.
In August, the group named Hightower Florida’s Outstanding Youth Champion during its virtual awards ceremony.
“I knew this was an impactful thing, but I didn’t see it as something I was doing that would change lives,” she said. “I just thought it should be done. We all should be doing this. It should be the norm. For it to be so much of an influence or have so much recognition, that’s awesome.”
‘It starts in your community’
For six months – up until the COVID-19 pandemic closed much of the Treasure Coast in March – Hightower and 15 other young people picked up trash, cigarette butts, cans, newspaper, whatever they could fit in their trash bags.
About 80% of the group was juniors and seniors from Hightower’s alma mater, Treasure Coast High School, but students from Lincoln Park Academy and other St. Lucie County high schools also joined the litter fight.
And even though Hightower considers herself a humble person, she admits she’s proud of the impact she’s had on her peers.
“For me, that’s important,” she said. “I see myself as a leader in my community, and I want to be a great leader in the world one day. It starts in your community … that little community you lived in for most of your life.”
Hightower, who’s majoring in supply chain management at FAMU, said she understands the importance of recycling and litter prevention. At the same time, she recognizes today’s young people are the next generation of environmental champions.
“We see a lot of great leaders today and their time is passing,” she said. “It’s our time to step up and be those leaders for the following generation.”
Hightower wants to launch nonprofits geared toward women, health, equality and racial justice, economic equality and environmental health – just like her mother.
She wants to attend law school, with a focus on human rights, and become an entrepreneur, too. She’s even thinking about running for political office.
“I want to do a lot, just as long as I can make a difference.”
For more information about Rise Above Youth Center for Excellence, search @RiseAboveYouthCenter on Facebook.