PHOTO #1: The City of Victoria Environmental Services hosted a “recycle relay” in partnership with Nazareth Academy in January 2023. Participants raced to put recyclables and trash in the correct bins.
PHOTO #2: Community organizations such as Victoria College provided information and resources during the March 2023 Keep Victoria Beautiful cleanup in Queen City. View more photos from the cleanup and resource fair
PHOTO #3: The Victoria Main Street Program partnered with the Victoria Fine Arts Association and Free Art Victoria on a downtown crosswalk art program in 2022. View more photos of the crosswalk art
PHOTO #4: 262 volunteers picked up 203 bags of trash and additional bulky items during the Earth Day Trash-Off hosted by Keep Victoria Beautiful in April 2023. View more photos from the cleanup
The Victoria community has won the Governor’s Community Achievement Award: Award of Excellence from Keep Texas Beautiful in recognition of communitywide beautification efforts.
Communities are scored based on the following criteria, with the Award of Excellence representing a total score of 90 out of 100:
- Community leadership and coordination
- Public awareness and outreach
- Environmental education and youth engagement
- Beautification and community improvement
Litter prevention and cleanup- Solid waste management
- Litter law and illegal dumping enforcement
The application highlighted Keep Victoria Beautiful’s projects as well as initiatives led by other City departments and organizations, such as the downtown crosswalk art that was a partnership between the Victoria Main Street Program, the Victoria Fine Arts Association and Free Art Victoria.
Other factors that were weighed favorably in Victoria’s application included collaboration among local organizations during neighborhood cleanups and strong volunteer engagement.
“Building a culture of community pride takes the whole community,” said City of Victoria Environmental Services Assistant Director Christy Youker, who is also the executive director of Keep Victoria Beautiful.
The top-rated community in each size category is eligible to receive funding from the Texas Department of Transportation for landscaping projects along state rights-of-way.
“Beautification efforts in Victoria have grown tremendously in recent years,” Youker said. “We are confident that our application will be even stronger next year as we look to expand and improve our community partnerships.”
To learn more about Keep Victoria Beautiful and to sign up to be notified of volunteer opportunities, visit www.victoriatx.gov/kvb.