Keep McAllen Beautiful completes a new beautification project at Dove and “C” Street east of 2^nd Street in McAllen.  The project became a reality in large part through a $20,000 grant by Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation in May 2013.  Keep McAllen Beautiful’s mission is to preserve and develop McAllen’s natural beauty.

The McAllen grant allows for the funding for Project Grove, an initiative that aims to create a climate-adapted beautification project irrigated by unused stormwater run-off.  Keep McAllen Beautiful is using this as a pilot project testing the use of stormwater run-off to irrigate landscaping projects in the City of McAllen.  The project is also an experiment in using natural filtration to improve the quality of water in McAllen “blue lines,” and thus improve water quality in the drainage outflows that discharge into the Arroyo Colorado and Laguna Madre.

According to Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, Lowe’s/Keep America Beautiful Community Improvement Grant of $20,000 is one of 75 merit-based grants awarded nationally to support grassroots community improvement projects including community gardens, tree plantings, litter and debris cleanups, recycling programs, park and playground restorations, and beautification efforts.

“We are very excited to have Lowe’s partnership on this project.  It is an innovative, new approach to improving our city’s environmental and aesthetic quality using existing, sustainable resources,” said Scott McKeon, Keep McAllen Beautiful Executive Director. 

Keep McAllen Beautiful is always looking for private and public funds to make McAllen a greener city and more sustainable.  If you should have any questions please contact Keep McAllen Beautiful at 681-4050.