The Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) annual Mayor and KIB Awards event was held virtually and streamed on YouTube Premiere Aug. 3. Irving Community Television Network (ICTN) edited videos of all the winners and presented a finished product, which was as close to the live event as possible. 

Mayor Stopfer opened the ceremony by welcoming and congratulating all of the award winners. Cathy Whiteman of ICTN served as master of ceremonies for her ninth consecutive year, introducing each honoree prior to their videos. KIB Board President Scott Wilson concluded the event by expressing his appreciation to the honorees. The award winners included:

• Youth Leadership Award: Girl Scout Troop 6458
• Educator Award: Bernardo Frias, Jr., Infinity Preparatory School
• Educator Award: Amanda Mello, North Lake College
• Faith Group Award: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
• Business and Industry Award: Pernod Ricard USA
• Civic Organization: Irving Elks Lodge 2334
• Nonprofit Organization: All Things Made New
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Anna Walther
• Government Award: Irving Public Libraries
• Civil Servant Award: Irving Fire Department Station 2
• KIB Hometown Award: Jo Ann Goin
• KIB Hometown Award: Kyle Taylor 

“This is one of KIB’s favorite events of the year, and we were disappointed that we could not hold it in person,” said KIB Board Member and Volunteer Recognition Chair Margie Stipes. “However, we are so grateful of the volunteers and friends of KIB, who are always ready to help.”

KIB would like to thank the following volunteers who were scheduled to help with the event: Sandy Franco, Chuck Kirk, Elouise McMillian, Chandler Ude, Becky Scherschell, T.J. Friedel, Nancy Ard, Pat Riddle Boy Scout Troop 508 and volunteers from First Baptist Church.

Keep Irving Beautiful is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of the city. As an award-winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, KIB reaches out to all sectors of the community, including government, businesses, churches, as well as cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. For more information on volunteering with KIB or making an activity a “green event,” visit CityofIrving.org/284/Keep-Irving-Beautiful or call (972) 721-2175.

Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) welcomed its first group of volunteers in several weeks to participate in a beautification project on May 27 and June 19. Members of Girl Scout Troop 6458 became the first volunteers to join KIB in a service project since the COVID-19 disaster mandates. 

In the first project, scouts and their parents applied a coat of bright safety yellow paint to the bollards surrounding the Parks and Recreation building at 3000 Rock Island Road.  The same group returned on June 19 with parents to complete painting of the bollards, as well as metal safety railings.  The combined effort of these two projects resulted in a total of nine volunteers, 27 hours of service, and a more visually appealing look to the building.

“We have really missed working with our outstanding volunteers over the past two months,” said KIB Board Member Kelly Horn. “Volunteers drive our organization, so it was great to start projects on a small scale as we ease back into a more regular routine of events.  Troop 6458 has been a partner of ours for several years by participating in activities like cleanups and the no-sew blanket project, and we look forward to more projects with them soon.”

Keep Irving Beautiful is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of the city. As an award-winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, Keep Irving Beautiful reaches out to all sectors of the community, including government, businesses, churches, as well as cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. For more information on volunteering with KIB or making an activity a “green event,” visit CityofIrving.org/KIB or call (972) 721-2175.

Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) recently named Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) a Gold Star Affiliate, a designation granted to 57 affiliates of KTB’s nearly 300 affiliates.

Since 2004, KTB’s Gold Star Affiliate recognition rewards communities who have gone above and beyond the non-profit’s established requirements:

• Affiliates must share information on their mission and goals
• Answer questions about their economic development and diversity and inclusion practices
• Participate in KTB Awards
• Governor’s Community Achievement Awards programs
• Provide a letter of support from their community. 

Irving will formally be recognized for its Gold Star Affiliation during KTB’s 53rd Annual Conference in Houston September 28-30.

“Our affiliates are the backbone of our organization,” says Suzanne Kho, Executive Director of Keep Texas Beautiful. “Our Gold Star Affiliates are educating and engaging community members, actively recruiting volunteers, hosting cleanup and beautification events throughout their community.”

In 2019, Irving had 6,659 volunteers out of 71,586 in the state and who contributed a total of 351,953 service hours in Texas. Last year, volunteers collected 4 million pounds of waste and recyclables, and cleaned 16,212 miles of Texas roadway, trails and waterways.

In the past year, the Irving community projects of cleanups, tree plantings, paint projects, environmental education, canned food drives and making no-sew blankets to donate KIB volunteer work completed equates to more than $237,000, said KIB President Scott Wilson.

“Keep Irving Beautiful is proud to be a part of such a dynamic state organization,” said Wilson. “Our volunteers are the reason behind the success of this affiliate.  We can’t thank them enough for what they do to make Irving a more beautiful place to live, work and play.”

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Keep Irving Beautiful is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of the city. As an award-winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, Keep Irving Beautiful reaches out to all sectors of the community, including government, businesses, churches, as well as cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. For more information on volunteering with KIB or making an activity a “green event,” visit CityofIrving.org/284/Keep-Irving-Beautiful or call (972) 721-2175.

Keep Texas Beautiful
Keep Texas Beautiful is a network of dedicated Texans working together to make our state the best place to live, work and play. We equip local partners and affiliates with the tools they need to build vibrant, engaged communities. Founded in 1967, Keep Texas Beautiful has over 50 years of experience deploying resources for local clean-up, recycling, and youth engagement efforts. Everything we do is focused on mobilizing volunteers to take action across the state. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, we lead nearly 300 affiliates and reach 17 million Texans annually. We are proudly based in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.ktb.org, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @keeptxbeautiful.

On March 7, Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) mascots Kirby the Toucan, Buddy the Blue Bag and Litterbug visited Irving’s Heritage Senior Center, 200 S. Jefferson St. The mascot trio performed an educational skit about the benefits of recycling and taking care of our environment. 

The Heritage Senior Center staff wore the mascot costumes of Kirby and Buddy in the skit to showcase how Litterbug changes into the “Recyclebug” from recycled materials. Afterwards the mascots had a dance-off to “R-E-C-Y-C-L-E,” a parody of Aretha Franklin’s song “Respect.”

After the performance, KIB staff distributed a variety of items to help promote a sustainable lifestyle, including reusable shopping bags and drink pouches, blue recycling bags and recycled books donated by the Friends of the Irving Public Library.

“KIB has presented this mascot skit to schools, recreation centers and libraries, but this is the first time that we have presented to an all-adult audience,” said KIB board member Jim Scrivner. “The seniors enjoyed the skit and were very interested in learning about how new products are made from recycled materials.”

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Keep Irving Beautiful is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of the city. As an award-winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, Keep Irving Beautiful reaches out to all sectors of the community, including government, businesses, churches, as well as cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. For more information on volunteering with KIB or making an activity a “green event,” visit CityofIrving.org/284/Keep-Irving-Beautiful or call (972) 721-2175.

Employee volunteers from the Irving Whole Foods Market joined Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) for a beautification project Feb. 20. Joined by a student from the North Lake College Service Learning program, the group painted the hallway and kitchen of the Senter East Community Building, giving sixteen hours of service in the effort.

KIB held its first volunteer project at the Senter East Community Building in fall 2019. Whole Foods is the fourth group to assist with painting a section of the building. The City of Irving Parks and Recreation Department provided painting supplies and technical guidance for the project.

“KIB appreciates the different groups who have helped with this ongoing project,” said KIB board member Margie Stipes. “This facility is used by many groups throughout the year, and the coat of paint has given it a fresh new look. KIB hopes to work with Whole Foods on more activities like this in the future. The organization is happy to have Whole Foods in Irving, and grateful for their community involvement.”

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Keep Irving Beautiful is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of the city. As an award-winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, Keep Irving Beautiful reaches out to all sectors of the community, including government, businesses, churches, as well as cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. For more information on volunteering with KIB or making an activity a “green event,” visit CityofIrving.org/284/Keep-Irving-Beautiful or call (972) 721-2175