FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Diane C. Birdwell @512-478-8813
October 25, 2001

KEEP TEXAS BEAUTIFUL ANNOUNCES HEB ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE GRANTS
HEB funds environmental project in Midland!

Austin, Texas - Who Keeps Texas Beautiful? HEB and Midland do. As the largest independently owned grocery chain in the United States, HEB joined with Keep Texas Beautiful to award funding to 16 Texas communities for outstanding grassroots environmental programs. The grants are being announced in conjunction with Make a Difference Day, which is Saturday, October 27, 2001.

Keep Midland Beautiful (KMB) is one of the winning HEB communities. The $250 grant will help execute KMB's only annual fundraiser, the Trio of Gardens Tour. Each year three different gardens are selected by committee members to show Midlanders what is practical to grow in your garden in the arid Permian Basin. The tour informs participants on xeriscaping, water features and conservation, herb gardens, composting, tree care and plating, and more. In its five years, the Trio has hosted more than 2,500 "tourists" who are encouraged to take photographs, make sketches, take notes, and quiz the homeowners, landscape architects, and Master Gardeners. This year KMB hopes to reach between four and six hundred people with this educational and beautiful fundraising event.

"Keep Texas Beautiful is very fortunate to have a partner as environmentally proactive as HEB is," said Bill Rogers, President of Keep Texas Beautiful. "HEB has a longstanding reputation of adopting many voluntary measures to save energy and water, prevent pollution, and reduce waste within its facilities. Now they've reached out to make an environmental commitment to the grassroots efforts of communities in Texas."

Reagan Wagner, Environmental Affairs Project Leader with HEB, commented on the importance of working with environmental grassroots efforts. "If we're going to make a positive difference in our environment, everyone needs to do their part, " he said. "Through this grant program with Keep Texas Beautiful, we're able to provide much needed funds to communities so they can create or expand their local environmental programs."

Keep Texas Beautiful, the nonprofit state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, strives to empower Texans through education to take responsibility for enhancing their community environment. KTB works with volunteers, elected officials, businesses and state and federal agencies to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity to take individual responsibility for making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. For more information on programs and events, call 1-800-CLEAN-TX.