Plano, TX
"We #LovePlano"
There’s a lot of love to go around in Plano, a great place for any family or individual looking for a place to call home. In fact, the American Planning Association has identified our historic downtown as “A Great Place to Live in America.”
Our residents love us so much that the #LovePlano hashtag has become synonymous with our city. In Plano, if we see something, we do something to make it better. It’s the nice thing to do and it’s just the “Plano Way.”
We have a lot of things to make us feel Plano Proud, which is why we have an entire video series that we share called “Plano Proud.” The Plano Proud video series highlights all of the nice things going on in Plano, from retirees donating their time to help other seniors learn how to use the internet to teenagers starting the Kindness Project in order to strengthen a community value. Churches and community volunteers work together to help our residents who need assistance with making repairs to correct common property code violations. These include minimal tree trimming, trash removal, damaged fence removal/repair, accessory building removal/repair, and minor exterior home repair.
The Plano CARES group is all about neighbors helping neighbors, which is a pretty nice thing to do (if you ask us). Many of these same individuals —Â as well as lots and lots of residents —Â come out twice a year to show how they “love where they live” in a community-wide clean up. Our residents are super nice to help out around Plano.
In fact, during 2016 we had 7,630 volunteers who gave 92,205 hours to help with a variety of tasks. We also celebrate our birthday together as a city. June 2nd is about enjoying time together with our neighbors for no reason other than its the city’s birthday party. Our police department has been recognized nationally for how nice they are, including giving away the coats off their backs to homeless during the winter.
Nice is all around!
It made our day to hear how our Parks and Recreation grounds staff stopped eating lunch to help a young mom change a flat tire when she was stuck at the park on a hot day with her little ones. And at a time where it seems like people are more divided than ever, the Gardens of Friendship in Plano brings together the Islamic Association of Collin County, Congregation Anshai Torah and Preston Meadow Lutheran Church for a community garden. Leaders from each worship community worked together and built relationships before starting the project. Teachers were also enlisted from each location, and students worked together to get the gardens going. Each location uses the gardens however it sees fit. A portion of each is reserved for coordinated efforts to grow agreed-upon crops for local food banks.
One of our most famous nice people is Cheryl “Action” Jackson. From being homeless and hungry to providing almost four million meals to families through Minnie’s Food Pantry, a charity dedicated in honor of her mother, Minnie Ewing. Minnie’s Food Pantry values and esteems families by providing a red carpet experience when they come onsite to receive food. Cheryl’s critical mission is to be the voice for the hungry and to educate the world on how to treat someone that needs something as simple as a meal.
Another fantastic local organization is My Possibilities. It is the first full day, full year continuing program in Collin County aimed to give adults with cognitive disabilities the chance at a higher education that helps them discover their purpose. From their humble beginnings in 2007 helping less than 10 HIPsters (Hugely Important People), they now serve 400 families each week and are building a first-of-its-kind university in the United States to bring a college-like atmosphere to 1600 students a year when it’s fully running.
#LovePlano
Thank You, Plano Police!
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