Multiple organizations have joined forces in, and around, Texarkana to establish an anti litter campaign for the region. The group has had one preliminary meeting and plans to bring a larger group together in May. The vision of the campaign is to, “Make Texarkana clean, neat, green and pretty.”
Organizations involved are the Texarkana USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, and both Cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. The next meeting will be in May. Anyone interested in attending and contributing to the effort can reach Natalie Haywood at nhaywood@texarkana.org by May 1. Groups interested in the project may be schools, religious organizations, retail businesses, restaurants, media, neighborhood organizations, businesses, and industry, etc.
At the first meeting, the challenge was, “What would it look like if there was no litter in Texarkana?” The conversation around this complex challenge was robust. To design and guide effective collaborations the initiative will utilize a new strategy discipline. “Strategic Doing teaches people how to form effective collaborations quickly and to move them toward measurable outcomes in a lean and agile fashion,” explained Jennifer Harland, board chairman for the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce. “This is more than a community pride initiative, it encourages economic development and prosperity for our region,” continued Harland. Strategic Doing was brought to the attention of community leaders through an initiative of the Leadership Texarkana program.
The community campaign is in conjunction with Earth Day – April 22, 2021. A day dedicated to “diversifying, educating, and activating the environmental movement worldwide.”
Information on the campaign is available at 819 North State Line Avenue, Texarkana, Texas or 903-792-7191. Questions can be directed to Natalie Haywood at nhaywood@texarkana.org.