Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) continued its Faith Groups Outreach program by partnering with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a volunteer community service project at Running Bear Park on Saturday, May 2. The project involved both a cleanup of the park and painting of several metal safety railings and the main entry gate. A total of 88 volunteers participated, including 51 adults and 37 children, who gave 352 hours of service by collecting litter that had washed in from recent rains or by giving a fresh coat of paint to the fencing. The group collected 360 pounds of trash, as well as 180 pounds of recyclables which were diverted from the landfill.
“We are enjoying our partnerships with more and more faith groups of all denominations,” said KIB Board member and Faith Groups Co-Chair Rachel Moon. “We had a big turnout today with the LDS members, and it was great to see so many families spending their Saturday morning by giving back to the community. Getting children involved in volunteering at an early age is so important, and it really becomes part of their way of life as they grow up.”
The City of Irving was also an important partner in this project. The Parks Department provided materials and logistic support for the project, while Solid Waste Services provided a roll-off container for the volunteers to place their bags of trash and recyclables in, then weighed the materials after the cleanup was over. Irving Community Television Network (ICTN), part of the city’s Communications Department, had a cameraman out to capture the volunteers in action. Code Enforcement Manager Darrell Hammond commented on this by saying, “This is a perfect example of city staff working together toward a common goal. We had internal partnerships among the different city departments, which combined with KIB’s outreach to the faith community, led to a wonderful project like this.”
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. To find out how you can volunteer, go to www.keepirvingbeautiful.org or call the KIB office at 972-721-2175.