February 8, 2008

Trees, Please!

When  was the last time you planted a tree? If the answer is  never it’s time for you to start digging in the dirt.

A  local organization has been hard at work promoting awareness  of the benefits of keeping our environment green and  clean. The group is called Keep Orange County Beautiful  (KOCB), and it began in 1997 as a division of Keep Texas  Beautiful the state-level beautification campaign of  Keep America Beautiful. KOCB is a non-profit, volunteer  organization that includes a board of directors with  representatives from the cities of Orange, West Orange,  Pinehurst, and the Texas Forest Service as well as area  business leaders and experts in the gardening industry.

The  group aims to educate the community on ways to keep the area  beautiful and organize and implement programs to achieve that  goal, with a focus on trees and trash – that is, planting  trees and removing trash.

Replanting  trees in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita has been a top  priority of KOCB, as trees not only support the environment  but also help beautify the city. You may have seen their  Trees Please: Keep Orange Green signs around town or  noticed the trees they planted on MacArthur Drive. They also  plant a tree at a local school each Arbor Day and distribute  brochures to construction companies encouraging them to  protect trees during the construction process. In addition,  they have formed a close partnership with the Texas Forest  Service, which has supplied hundreds of trees for homeowners  as well as public sites.

In  an effort to encourage others to get involved, KOCB hands out  quarterly beautification awards to one resident and one  business with exceptional landscaping. Winners receive a sign  announcing the award and an announcement in the newspaper.

There  are other ways for you to get involved with the effort to  enhance the beauty of your community, such as picking up  litter from your property. You can also donate your time by  volunteering with KOCB. For those of you with no time to  spare, you can make a financial contribution to the  organization. Donations are tax-deductible, and 100% of the  funds are used for beautification – none are used for  administrative costs. To volunteer or make a donation, call  Sandra Cash at 409.886.3389 or Dr. Dennis Franklin at  409.882.4123.

It's  so easy to get involved, no matter how you choose to do it.  You will not only help keep Orange County beautiful, but also  improve the state of the environment, ensuring Orange will be  around for many years to come. That's reason enough for me.

This  message was also printed in the February 6, 2008, issue of The  Orange Leader by guest columnist Nikki Sumrow. You can  read a new column each Wednesday in The Orange Leader discussing the latest Orange events and activities. If you  would like to suggest a topic for a future column, please  contact me at nikki.sumrow@imaginuity.com.