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Congratulations Houston! After many long hours of preparation and lots of hard work by hundreds of volunteers, Keep Houston Beautiful Day 2007 was a huge success. What started out as a cool, overcast morning turned out to be a perfect day for cleanup efforts that took place around the city as part of Houston’s largest annual one-day neighborhood cleanup. By day’s end, volunteer groups filled more than 700 bags with trash, cleaned and mowed 5 esplanades, removed 77 illegal signs, picked up 35 tires, cleaned 23 vacant lots and 51 ditches, and abated 10 graffiti sites.
Mayor Bill White kicked off the event at the Flores Branch Library in the Second Ward where he was joined by Councilmember Adrian Garcia; Robin Blut, Executive Director of Keep Houston Beautiful; members of the Police Department’s Neighborhood Protection team; community leaders; and citizen volunteers. Mayor White addressed the crowd of volunteers while standing in front of a fitting backdrop for the occasion – an abandoned house only minutes away from being demolished as part of the Second Ward cleanup. “The elimination of a structure like the one behind me is key to making our neighborhoods safer,” White said. “This is just one example of how a community can work together to make a difference in the quality of life for all Houstonians.”
Another marquee event during the day took place on the city’s east end where volunteers from Republic Services, Inc., the East Downtown Management District, HLS Enterprises of Texas, Inc., M2L Associates, Inc., Stockyard Photography, Beneficial HSBC, J.P. Industries, Barespot Solutions, and CJM-The Soil Supermart joined forces to plant 64 trees and 300 yards of grass on what was once a weeded, trash-ridden railroad right-of-way.
The transformation of this five-acre tract of land from eyesore to urban park was truly an amazing sight to see. The volunteer group focused on a one-acre section of the park that has officially been designated as ‘Shenzhen Garden’ in honor of Houston’s Sister City of Shenzhen, China. The garden will celebrate cultural exchange between the two cities. Bill Linthicum, Area President of Republic Services, Inc. and Chairman of Keep Houston Beautiful, worked side by side with volunteers to make the garden a reality. “I am extremely proud of all the volunteers who participated in Keep Houston Beautiful Day,” Linthicum said. “It was a special day and I want to thank all of our volunteers and our sponsors. We could not have succeeded without you.”
Rounding out the day’s events were a cigarette butt scavenger hunt in Acres Homes, the cleanup of Robertson Stadium with the aid of Houston Dynamo players and volunteers from General Electric, and the beautification of Bellaire Blvd. in the Bellaire/West U. area, one of 12 neighborhood clean-up sites. Also participating in Keep Houston Beautiful Day was the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, which held cleanup events at six city parks.
Robin Blut, Executive Director of Keep Houston Beautiful, cited the 2007 event as a catalyst for things to come throughout the remainder of the year. “Keep Houston Beautiful Day 2007 has inspired all of us to work even harder throughout the year to make Houston one of the cleanest, most beautiful cities in the country,” she said. “On behalf of Keep Houston Beautiful, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all of our volunteers, sponsors, and community leaders for all of their hard work.”
Keep Houston Beautiful Day 2007 Sponsors and In-Kind Donors were:
Republic Waste Services is the lead corporate sponsor for Keep Houston Beautiful Day. Another repeat sponsor from last year is Firestone Tire and Service Centers in Houston. They accepted residential used engine oil, automotive batteries and scrap tires at no charge to ensure that the materials were recycled properly at all area service centers.
Keep Houston Beautiful Day is supported locally by Moody-Rambin Interests, Halliburton, Houston Parks & Recreation Department, Marathon Oil Company, Sprint Waste Services, Toshiba International Corporation, Janice Gabriel and Houston Pepsi- Cola. Other local supporters include Allied Waste Industries, Mayor’s Citizen’s Assistance Office, City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department, Neighborhood Protection Corps, Houston Independent School District and Waste Management.
In-kind volunteer incentive donors included Bennigan’s, Café Express, Cinemark Tinseltown Westchase, Houston Astros, Houston Dynamo and Houston Texans.
Keep Houston Beautiful Day launched the Great American Cleanup in Houston. Many of America’s leading companies are dedicated to supporting and sponsoring the efforts for the 2007 Great American Cleanup. The National Sponsors are: American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Firestone Complete Auto Care™ and TiresPlus™, GLAD® ForceFlex® Trash Bags, Pepsi-Cola Company, Sam’s Club®, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Sparkle® Paper Towels from Georgia-Pacific, Sprint Foundation, Troy-Bilt®, Waste Management, Inc., and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. Educational Partners are: Rubber Manufacturers Association and The Wireless Alliance. The Texas Department of Transportation supports events across Texas.
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