McAllen, Texas – Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) has recognized Keep McAllen Beautiful (KMB) as a recipient of a 2018 Green Bag Grant through funding from H-E-B and Central Market. Keep Texas Beautiful will provide 11 affiliate communities throughout Texas with a share of $25,000 to support educational events and projects relating to sustainability, recycling, litter prevention, beautification, and water conservation.
McAllen will receive $3,000 for a community project to beautify the area along the Bicentennial Boulevard Hike and Bike trail by painting the irrigation pipes located along the drainage ditch turned parkway. Keep McAllen Beautiful will complete their project by July 2019.
“I am so proud of Keep McAllen Beautiful for finding new and innovative ways of keeping the great city of McAllen beautiful and engaging the citizens to help embrace this mindset of helping to be responsible for cleaning and maintaining our community,” said McAllen Mayor Jim Darling.
This pairs with a $1,500 Green Bag Grant that Keep McAllen Beautiful received last year to paint decorative trash bins to be placed throughout the city. Keep McAllen Beautiful worked with McAllen Independent School District middle and high school students to paint and decal the 19 barrels which were placed in parks and along the hike and bike trails in McAllen.
“This is a great way to not only bring students, art teachers, and area businesses together to focus on public art, but also, to provide aesthetically pleasing trash receptacles for the community, which is a true win-win for our beautiful city,” said Chris Lash, Program Coordinator for Keep McAllen Beautiful. “We look forward to displaying the trash cans and the community utilizing them to help Keep McAllen Beautiful.”
Along with the funding from H-E-B, metal barrels and poles were sponsored by 4Front/ Entrematic, and a special sealant to protect the paint was donated by Maaco of Pharr.
“We are thankful for sponsors like H-E-B that afford us even greater opportunities to support our affiliates,” says Suzanne Kho, Executive Director of Keep Texas Beautiful. “We cannot wait to see the projects our affiliates are able to complete with help from our Green Bag Grants.”
Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) is a network of dedicated Texans working together to make our state the best place to live, work and play. Local partners and affiliates are provided with the tools they need to build vibrant, engaged communities. Founded in 1967, Keep Texas Beautiful has more than 50 years of experience deploying resources for local clean-up, recycling and youth engagement efforts. Based in Austin, Texas, the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization leads nearly 300 affiliates and reachs 19 million Texans annually. For more information, visit www.ktb.org.
H-E-B operates more than 390 stores in Texas and Mexico, with sales of more than $23 billion. Known for its innovation and community service, H-E-B celebrated its 110th anniversary in 2015. Recognized for its fresh food, quality products, convenient services, and a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, H-E-B strives to provide the best customer experience at everyday low prices. Based in San Antonio, H-E-B employs more than 100,000 Partners in Texas and Mexico and serves millions of customers in more than 300 communities.
Keep McAllen Beautiful is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) that focuses on developing sustainable projects that focus on beautification for the community, including clean-ups and neighborhood improvement projects. KMB has been named Affiliate of the Year by the statewide organization. For more information about Keep McAllen Beautiful or any of their affiliated programs contact kmb@mcallen.net.
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