Keep Lewisville Beautiful

LEW ISVILLE Beautiful Keep

by Brooke Ezzo

In 1967, Texas was preparing for the HemisFair held in San Antonio the following year, with more than 16 million tourists expected to come through the state. As a result of this, a few representatives from different state entities decided cities and highways needed a facelift to impress the coming visitors.

The group created a non-profit educational corporation, completely supported by membership dues, and was called the Beautify Texas Council. Because of the turn out of volunteers and the continued support by the communities, the Council decided to keep their beautification efforts going long after the HemisFair.

The Council increased its focus to highway beautification, environment education, and public awareness. In 1985, the Beautify Texas Council officially became Keep Texas Beautiful, Inc. and became a state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.

Keep Texas Beautiful has an extensive affiliate program, providing support and funding to cities across the state with the goal of making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation.

As an award winning affiliate, the mission of Keep Lewisville Beautiful (KLB) is to engage the citizens of Lewisville through

service and education to enhance their community environment. KLB engages the community through several programs and volunteer opportunities throughout the year. “Keep Lewisville Beautiful hosts three annual volunteer events each year: our Spring Cleanup, Make A Difference Day, and Trinity Trash Bash,” said Amy Wells, Keep Lewisville Beautiful Executive Director. “KLB also hosts monthly cleanups with Adopt-ASpot and Clean Stream Team programs.” In hopes to continue educating residents about the importance of enhancing our communities, KLB offers free Garden Secret classes. The classes teach about water conservation, planting with natives, and local gardening tips. “In the fall, KLB focuses on beautification efforts and helps seed wildflowers in effort to increase pollinator spaces in our community,” Amy said. “KLB works with the parks department to plant butterfly waystations, trees, and community gardens.” Amy also included that in December, KLB hosts their annual Holiday Yard of the Month program that engages thousands of residents to spread joy with holiday decorations. Keep Lewisville Beautiful is extremely involved in the community, even in times it may not be completely obvious. Their goal of maintaining a clean, green, and beautiful living space for residents is evident and very well supported. KLB offers free Gard en

Secr et class es. The class es teach about wat er co nservat ion, planting with nat ives, and local gard eningtips .

“Last year, KLB engaged more than 8,500 volunteers through events, programs, and classes,” Amy said. “The volunteers helped remove 29 TONS of trash from our community and provided 11,800 volunteer hours towards community improvement, beautification, wildflower, and litter abatement initiatives.”

KLB is committed to making Lewisville a better place to live, work, and play.

Residents are encouraged to get involved, and doing so is simple. A little help can go a long way.

Even in our time of social distancing, roadside cleanup is a great way to get outdoors with your family and help your community. For more information on volunteering and classes visit, www.KeepLewisvilleBeautiful.org or email KLB directly, info@KeepLewisvilleBeautiful.org.