Employee volunteers from the Verizon Hidden Ridge campus in Irving partnered with Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) and the Irving Parks and Recreation Department for a day of community service at the Lively Pointe Youth Center on Saturday, March 19.  These “Verizon Green Team” members were also joined by North Lake College Service Learning students in giving a fresh coat of paint to the activity room and other areas of the center.  In total, there were eight volunteers who gave 32 hours of service in making this very popular destination brighter and more inviting.  As part of their shared goal to decrease the amount of disposable plastic bottles in the environment, each volunteer was given a reusable drinking pouch as a thank you gift.

Keep Irving Beautiful has partnered with Verizon since 2009, and employee volunteers have worked on a variety of projects, including beautification activities at Northwest Park and the Fritz Park Petting Farm, and the Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off in the spring and the annual Trash Bash in the fall.  The Irving team’s efforts are part of Verizon’s goal to encourage volunteerism world-wide.  There are currently more than 20,000 Green Team members in 25 different countries, who live the company’s mission of “We believe that sharing our success with the community makes the world in which we live and work better than it was yesterday.”

“Verizon, with its Green Team and numerous environmental initiatives, is a great example of the kind of company we like to partner with,” said KIB Board member Julie Schmitt.  “They are always looking for ways to improve the community where they work and where many of them live, and KIB is a natural fit.  We have found their employees to be great volunteers who are very passionate about their commitment, and just a lot of fun to be around.” 

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, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations.  If you are interested in volunteering with KIB, or making your activity a “green event,” please go to www.keepirvingbeautiful.org, or call the KIB office at 972-721-2175.