Mundelein garners Home Town Award
Ending a three-year drought for the village, a Mundelein program that aims to give kids positive social outlets and role models has won a prominent state award, officials announced.
The Mundelein After School Coalition has been tapped for a Governor's Home Town Award, which recognizes diverse volunteer efforts across Illinois.
It's the 15th Home Town Award for a Mundelein program since 1995. During that stretch, Mundelein won prizes nine years in a row.
The village last won a Home Town Award in 2003.
The honor makes Mundelein one of the program's most recognized communities since it launched in 1982, a spokesman said.
Mundelein Mayor Kenneth H. Kessler said he was proud of the organizers and volunteers who've worked with the after-school coalition.
"One of the things that's unique about Mundelein is its hometown feel and sense of community," Kessler said. "And I think that people consistently coming together for programs like this speaks to that."
Formed in 2004, the after-school coalition spun off from a countywide group founded by Mundelein Police Chief Raymond J. Rose, state Rep. Kathy Ryg and other community leaders.
Focusing on sixth- through eighth-graders in four elementary school districts and a local parochial school, it works with kids to design and organize after-school activities, dances, character-building sessions and other upbeat events.
The kids' eagerness to avoid and eradicate problems, such as gangs or underage drinking, impresses Rose.
"They're making a very strong, concerted effort to make everything right," he said. "Listening to them and the ideas that they have… it's just really wonderful."
The Home Town Awards are handed out by the state's department of commerce and economic opportunity. They're awarded in eight categories based on community population.
Many Mundelein community projects have received Home Town Awards through the years, some multiple times.
A senior citizens police academy has won the prize three times, while the A-May-Zing Mundelein Day of Caring, a neighborhood cleanup effort, has earned two awards. The village's "holiday help" program, which fed residents suffering from economic hardships during the holiday season, won the town's last Home Town prize in 2003.
Representatives from the after-school coalition will receive the award at a Nov. 27 banquet in Springfield. All winners will receive commemorative plaques and road signs. One project will be honored with a special Governor's Cup.
The group will learn if it won first place in its category or another prize at that time.