North Lake Service Learning Students and Keep Irving Beautiful joined forces once again, this time on Earth Day, April 22, for a beautification project. The four volunteers spent a total of twelve hours painting the final pavilion at Running Bear Park on a beautiful spring day. Previously, the other five pavilions were painted by groups from VHA, Inc., and Canon USA, as part of their service days. Paint and supplies were provided by the Irving Parks Department.

“Partnering with the City of Irving’s Parks Department has been an important part of our success with our volunteer activities,” said KIB Coordinator Rick Hose. “They identify potential projects, and then we match the projects to the group size and age range of the volunteers from the various organizations that are looking for a way to give back to the community. This project today was perfect for the North Lake students, and we will be back in a couple weeks with another project with a Girl Scout Troop.”

KIB’s Service Learning Coordinator Julie Schmitt also commented on the students’ work this semester.  “We have had a great spring with our North Lake students," she said. “They have proven to be reliable and hard-working in whatever the activity may be, such as cleanups or festivals or paint projects like this one. I think they enjoyed working with KIB as well, and we hope they return to join us for the fall semester.”

Keep Irving Beautiful is a non-profit, grassroots, leadership organization dedicated to educating our community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification in order to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of our city. As an award winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, Keep Irving Beautiful reaches out to and partners with all sectors of our City including government, business, church, cultural, neighborhood, educational and civic organizations.  For more information on how you can volunteer, click here or call the KIB office at 972-721-2175.