About Keep McAllen Beautiful

It is said that back in the 70s, Keep McAllen Beautiful (KMB) evolved from combining two separate groups. There was a couple named Mauro and Barbara Treviño, who were so dedicated to doing litter cleanups that they started a litter cleanup group.

They would go out into the community to educate on litter awareness and do litter cleanups. On January 1976, the McAllen City Commission adopted Keep McAllen Beautiful as a Beautification Advisory Board. Its goals were to increase public awareness through litter prevention projects such as the “Auntie Litter” campaign. On April 6, 1983, KMB became a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization.

On June 7, 1992 KMB became an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, a national public education organization dedicated to improving waste handling practices throughout America. In 2005, KMB became an affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful, a nonprofit public service organization working with support from the state’s governor to provide a cleaner and more beautiful state.

Since then KMB has expanded through a variety of activities and annual events that address litter prevention and promote beautification issues. Among those are: monthly beautification awards given to businesses who exceed minimum landscape ordinance requirements; Paint McAllen Beautiful, a project where volunteers paint the homes of low income McAllen residents who are elderly and/or disabled at no charge; the Great American Cleanup, our largest annual city wide cleanup that brings together schools, civic groups and businesses to help pick up litter along roadways and in public areas; and Project Clean Neighborhoods, a project that empowers residents in a given neighborhood to clean up their property or neighborhoods and dispose of any debris or litter free of charge with roll-off dumpsters provided free of charge by the City’s Public Works Department.

Along with these regular events, KMB is also involved in a number of other events and activities such as helping coordinate tree plantings in and around McAllen with the help of the Parks and Recreation Department and the establishing of butterfly gardens in neighborhoods and public areas.

As an official McAllen advisory board with City and Board appointed members, KMB has enjoyed an ongoing fruitful and positive relationship with the City of McAllen for over 30 years. In every endeavor, KMB strives to promote and enhance awareness while adhering to its mission: to develop and expand the awareness of proper waste reduction practices, litter prevention and the beautification and environmental preservation of McAllen’s natural beauty.