Kendall County elected officials recently participated in National Service Recognition Day by lending a hand at the Kendall County Community Food Pantry in Yorkville.
April 3 was officially designated as National Service Recognition day, as a national event sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the National League of Cities, and Cities of Service. As the federal agency for service and volunteering, CNCS annually engages more than 5 Million citizens in service at more than 60,000 locations in 8,500 cities across the country through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other programs. National service participants address the most pressing challenges facing our cities and Nation, from educating students for the jobs of the 21st century and supporting veterans and military families to preserving the environment and helping communities recover from natural disasters.
Millbrook Village president Jacki Kowalski, Oswego Village president Gail Johnson, Plano mayor Bob Hausler, and Yorkville mayor Gary Golinski, each delivered a public proclamation recognizing the value of volunteer service in their communities, and each participated in a volunteer project of their choice during the week, in hopes of inspiring more residents to get involved in their communities.
Thursday, April 5, mayors Golinski and Hausler, and village president Johnson served clients at Kendall County Community Food Pantry along with AmeriCorps Vista volunteer Jessica Asselmeier of the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Barb Nadeau, volunteer coordinator of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, (RSVP), sponsored by Senior Services Associates, and numerous other volunteers.
“We really appreciate our community’s leaders commitment to join us each year in service and recognition of the volunteers helping others in our county,” Nadeau said. “We have more than 230 volunteers participating in service in Kendall County through RSVP, and more than 80 of those volunteers serve right here at the Kendall County Community Food Pantry. This really highlights our focus at Senior Services of helping to maintain healthy futures for our clients, and we are really glad to participate here.”
Last year 790 RSVP volunteers across Kane, Kendall, and McHenry Counties reported 108,500 service hours in a variety of volunteer capacities.
—Barb Nadeau