Mayor’s Proud Partners

Two community-minded projects – the Spark Park at Meadow Wood Elementary School and a tree planting and environmental clean-up project undertaken by student volunteers with the Memorial Mustang Outreach Bunch – won awards in the annual Mayor’s Proud Partners program.

Both awards were presented during the 24th annual Mayor’s Proud Partners Luncheon, held Nov. 17 at the InterContinental Houston Hotel. The annual event is sponsored by Keep Houston Beautiful, the city’s nonprofit education and community improvement organization.

The Spark Park at Meadow Wood Elementary School, 14230 Memorial Drive, was built largely through community fund-raising efforts, which led to the construction of a much-needed neighborhood playground.

Under the theme of “United We Stand,” campus partners spent the 2006-2007 school year raising funds. The campaign was inspired by the early fund-raising success of then fourth-grader Nicholas Lydick, who raised $2,900 through pledges for riding his bicycle 500 miles during the summer. In all, Meadow Wood’s community raised $167,000, which includes in-kind donations.

“The trees planted in the park and around the perimeter of the school help to improve the air quality in the neighborhood and provide shade for those using the park,” states Proud Partners in its report on 2008 honorees.

“The public art in the new Spark Park improves the aesthetic quality of the area. The community benefits from this safe and fun place for people to enjoy each other and the quality of life in the neighborhood.”

The student volunteer group known as Memorial Mustang Outreach Bunch, or MMOB, meanwhile, was honored for a tree planting and environmental clean-up project. Twice a month during the school year, as many as 50 students spent the day working at locations throughout the city.

During the past year, MMOB volunteers undertook large tree planting projects, several neighborhood revitalization efforts, cleanups of bayous and beaches, and other projects ranging from historic cemetery cleanings to refurbishments of handicapped trails within a nature preserve. Two beach cleanups involved three miles of beach and 300 Memorial High student volunteers.

“The MMOB students know the meaning of hard work. During just one of their projects, they helped refurbish several miles of an oak-lined boulevard for a neighborhood group. Working at two different locations, they managed to plant nearly 100 trees, spread tons of mulch and create environmental wetlands,” Keep Houston Beautiful reports.

Houston Mayor Bill White praised both the nonprofit group and the 2008 award winners.

“Keep Houston Beautiful remains at the forefront of empowering communities to take the lead in making sustaining improvements to their environment. I am proud of the important work this organization does and the astonishing growth it is experiencing in demand for its expertise and assistance,” Mayor White said.

“I congratulate and take particular pride in the Proud Partner award winners each year. The winners show remarkable ingenuity. They also show outstanding leadership not just at the neighborhood or city level, but also on a national basis,” he also said.

“Houstonians never fail to amaze me how they find new ways to make Houston a greener, less polluted city.” The mayor said that the city aims to plant more than a million trees in the next five years.

Also honored at the luncheon were Drayton McLane and the Houston Astros as the 2008 Mayor’s Outstanding Proud Partner, several special category winners, and 15 other Proud Partner award winners.