Nominations Open February 5 - March 22
Who:
Anyone can nominate a local hero! Award winners come from all walks of life: students, civic and non-profit organizations, individuals, community groups, sports teams, and more. Self-nominations are encouraged!
What:
The Beautify Texas Awards recognize efforts made by individuals and organizations to enhance their communities and protect Texas’ environment. These awards range in honoring extraordinary volunteers, professionals, youth, educators, businesses, local/civic governments, organizations, and specific projects and programs. They are organized into two main categories, Individual Awards and Organization Awards.
When:
Nominations are open February 5- March 22, 2024.
Nominations for the 2024 Beautify Texas Awards will open on February 5, 2024 and close on Thursday, March 22, 2024, at 5 p.m. CST.
Submit a Nomination
Nominations for the 2024 Beautify Texas Awards (formerly the KTB Awards) will open on February 5, 2024 and close on Thursday, March 22, 2024, at 5 p.m. CST.
In order to make nominations for any of the following awards, you need to create an account at our submission website. A maximum of 5 nominations per nominator per category is allowed. We reserve the right to move any submission to a different category in which it better fits.
Late, emailed, mailed, or faxed entries will be automatically disqualified.
These awards recognize efforts made by individuals and organizations to enhance their communities and protect the Texas environment. One winner per category will be selected and recognized at the annual KTB Conference in June 2024. Individual category winners receive a cash prize of $250 and winners in all categories receive an award suitable for display.
Award Categories
Individual Awards
Stan Weik Leadership Award
The most prestigious award Keep Texas Beautiful presents, this once-in-a-lifetime professional distinction is awarded to an individual who has provided outstanding leadership in improving and enhancing the environment of their community, the state of Texas, and beyond.
OP Schnabel Volunteer of the Year Award
This award recognizes an adult individual who supports the mission of KTB through extraordinary volunteer efforts and contributes to the betterment of their community.
Ruthe Jackson Youth Individual Volunteer of the Year Award
This award recognizes the efforts and leadership of youth (as individuals and their collective efforts as a group or team) to beautify the community and create cleaner, greener campuses, parks, and neighborhoods. A youth individual is defined as a student (elementary through postgraduate), scout, youth advisory board member, etc.
Sadie Ray Graff Educator of the Year Award
This award recognizes the efforts of an educator who provides instruction/programming to Pre-K through college students to encourage youth involvement and promote the KTB mission through environmental education.
Organizational Awards
Ebby Halliday & Maurice Acers Business of the Year Award
Recognizes a business with sound environmental principles that supports the Keep Texas Beautiful mission, including locally owned, state, or national businesses.
Outstanding Program of the Year Award
Recognizes outstanding contributions by civic organizations and city/county/state government departments, divisions, or agencies supporting the Keep Texas Beautiful mission through a specific, continual program.
Outstanding Project of the Year Award
The Outstanding Project award recognizes contributions by civic organizations and city, county, and state government departments that support the KTB mission through a specific one-time project or event from the previous year.
Public Education and Outreach Award
Recognizes the public awareness and education efforts of civic organizations and city/county/state government departments in print and/or electronic media in supporting environmental issues. Media outlets are also eligible for this award.
Ruthe Jackson Youth Organization of the Year Award
This award recognizes the efforts and leadership of youth-oriented organizations to beautify the community and create cleaner, greener campuses, parks, and neighborhoods. A youth organization is defined as a scout group, student-led organization, youth advisory board, etc.
Sadie Ray Graff Educational Institution of the Year Award
This award recognizes the efforts of educational institutions that provide instruction/programming to Pre-K through college students to encourage youth involvement and promote the Keep Texas Beautiful mission through environmental education.
Honorees
Several of the Beautify Texas Awards are named in honor of notable people who were an important part of Keep Texas Beautiful’s founding and development over its 55+ year history. Let’s meet them:
He devoted his life to making Texas cleaner and more beautiful and encouraged others to do the same. O.P. was affectionately known as “Old Push Broom,” and was well known for his catchphrases, such as “Nice people don’t litter” and “Be a beauty bug, not a litterbug.”
Schnabel’s hometown of San Antonio has a park, apartment complex, and clean-up week named after him. The O.P. Schnabel Senior Citizen Award recognizes citizens over the age of 55 who show leadership in improving the local community’s environment, just as Schnabel did.
Ruthe enjoyed leading cleanups and often got her own hands dirty to beautify her city. She believed youth are the future leaders of Texas and devoted her time and energy to them, making it very fitting the Youth Leadership Awards are named in her honor.
After retiring from education in 1971, Sadie Ray and her husband Waldo continued to serve actively in the Beautify San Antonio Association. She visited elementary schools to involve them in recycling and conservation projects. In 1992, the City of San Antonio named the Graff Pavilion at O.P. Schnabel Park for them.
The Sadie Ray Graff Educator Awards recognize those in the field of education who encourage or demonstrate efforts to promote the KTB mission through environmental education.
Acers, a former FBI agent, secured the partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation and named the Governor’s Community Achievement Awards while working as the executive assistant to Gov. Allan Shivers.
Ebby was well-known as the “First Lady of Real Estate,” and sold selling homes in the Dallas area for more than 60 years. Ebby Halliday Realtors is now one of the largest privately owned residential real estate firms in the country.