Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) received a grant from the UPS Foundation in 2015 to purchase native trees for the city’s Tree Farm, and on June 30, 2016, they were finally able to start getting those trees in the ground. The unusually rainy weather in the past year had left the ground at the tree farm too wet to get equipment and volunteers safely onto the property, and every time a new date was scheduled, it rained again and the project had to be postponed – six times. Two companies who had been scheduled earlier in the year to plant, Land Design, Inc., and Contech Engineered Solutions, both sent teams of employee volunteers to Mountain Creek Preserve on Thursday, June 30, and the planting was underway. A total of 17 volunteers from the two companies spent the morning planting a variety of trees, but first they got a tutorial from Parks staff on proper planting techniques. They worked in teams of two to three, and gave a total of 51 hours of service in planting the 61 trees. A second group of Contech employees was scheduled to complete the project the following day.
“Keep Irving Beautiful is a strong organization because of our partnerships,” said KIB and Tree Board Member Scott Wilson, “and this project is a perfect example of that. Two companies that we have enjoyed partnering with previously, Land Design and Contech, were able to step up and help when this opportunity presented itself. The partnership with our outstanding Parks Department has allowed KIB to do so much good in the community, and the trees themselves are here because of our partnership with Keep America Beautiful, which allowed us to apply for and win the UPS Foundation Grant.”
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.