Before the school year was finished, members of the Future Farmers of America chapter from Nimitz High School were already planning their first volunteer activity of the summer, a cleanup with Keep Irving Beautiful.  On Friday, June 13, a total of eleven volunteers – nine youth and their teachers met at Trinity View Park for a cleanup of the area near the football fields, along the tree lines and north along the Campion Trail into River Hills Park.  Using supplies provided by KIB, including yellow safety vests, litter pickers, gloves and trash bags, the group worked in pairs to collect approximately 45 pounds of litter and recyclable materials.

Nimitz students have volunteered with Keep Irving Beautiful for many years in different projects, but this was the first time for KIB to partner with the FFA group.  FFA Officer Miryam Ochoa worked with KIB staff and organized the volunteers to help make the project a success.  Parks Department staff provided a truck for the collection of the trash and recycle bags, and made sure the park was ready for the group.

“Cleaning up in this location is especially important because it keeps litter from getting into the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, which forms the eastern border of the park,” said KIB Board Member Margie Stipes.  “While we are very grateful for the much-needed rain we recently received, that rain also sweeps a lot of trash into this low-lying area via the creeks that feed into the river.  The work that the Nimitz FFA students and their teachers did today is very much appreciated by KIB everyone who visits the park.”

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, please go to www.keepirvingbeautiful.org, or call the KIB office at 972-721-2175.