Member Moment: Keep Texas Beautiful Rebuilds After Harvey
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation, nonprofit Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) took action to rebuild and restore the Texas Gulf Coast. The KTB Board of Directors formed the Rebuilding Texas Fund to facilitate restoration efforts in the 48 affiliate communities damaged by the storm. With help from community fundraising efforts, KTB has funded locally-based cleanups up and down the coast, and are raising funds for future restoration and rebuilding efforts for the coming year. Their focus on local needs results in restoration of often overlooked necessities, like the replanting native plants in the city of Port Aransas to benefit the long-term recovery of the community.
Prioritizing People
“Our priority throughout restoration has been ensuring that we’re bringing these communities back, better than they were before Hurricane Harvey, and giving them what they need to thrive,” says Rebekah Grmela, Communications Director of Keep Texas Beautiful. As a statewide nonprofit organization, Keep Texas Beautiful sees crisis recovery and response different in every region, and their state perspective enables them to make tremendous strides to support local needs.
For example, their partnership with Revolver Brewing, a Texas-based company, enabled them to raise more than $60K for the Rebuilding Texas Fund. While the beer is almost completely sold out, donations can still be made online, and KTB is looking for new teams and sponsors to get involved. “We’re still collecting donations, but will begin distributing funds in more frequency this spring. We’re are always looking for communities, teams and sponsors to get involved!” says Grmela.
Keep Texas Beautiful has been a Mission Capital nonprofit member for eight years. Their leadership and team have taken advantage of Mission Meet-Ups, Board Essentials trainings and learning opportunities at Mission Driven, our conference for nonprofit professionals. KTB finds the value of their membership extends beyond these educational events. As Grmela shares, “I personally love utilizing the resources of membership – whether it be the new affiliate dashboard, forum or even utilizing the conference rooms. I know the supportive staff at Mission Capital will be able to help my nonprofit come up with helpful answers to solve the problem.”
How You Can Help
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can support KTB, check out their “Green 2018” blog, support their Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, get involved with local cleanups in the Austin-area through Keep Austin Beautiful, or encourage students and children to participate in their upcoming Art Contest, launching January 16.