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 "The Home Town Awards are about recognizing hardworking and
committed volunteers who make Illinois a great place to live. I
encourage communities throughout the state to nominate those
well-deserving volunteers whose outstanding dedication and effort
sometimes go unrecognized," said Blagojevich.
Administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity, the
Governor's Home Town Awards are presented in a
number of categories, based on community population. Applications
for awards may be submitted by a variety of community
representatives, including local governments, schools, community
organizations, chambers of commerce, Community Action agencies, Area
Agencies on Aging and local job training organizations.
There are six project categories for which an application may be
submitted: youth involvement, senior citizen involvement, veteran
involvement, parks and recreation, cleanup and beautification, and
general, which includes submissions that do not fit in the other
specific categories. Applications are reviewed by a team of
volunteer judges, who conduct site visits to finalist communities
before deciding on winners.
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 Judges will select one project from each population category to
compete for the coveted Governor's Cup, a traveling silver trophy
that signifies the project deemed most representative of Illinois'
spirit for volunteerism. Past Governor's Cup recipients have
included a summer camp for mentally and physically challenged adults
and young adults in Adams County, an emergency services and disaster
program in Country Club Hills, a transitional shelter for homeless
women and children in Champaign County, and the 2007 Governor's Cup
winner, Kids' Kingdom Park and Playground in McLeansboro.
"Through their tireless efforts and commitment to their
communities, our volunteers are helping to attract investment,
support growth and create more opportunities for others. I encourage
people to take this opportunity to recognize these remarkable
efforts by submitting nominations for this year's Home Town Awards,"
said Jack Lavin, director of the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity.
The deadline to apply for the 2008 awards is June 20. For more
information, or to receive an
application guidebook, contact Lou Ann
Williams at 217-558-4104, TTY 800-785-6055 or
LouAnn.Williams@illinois.gov.
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for
the PDF file, click
here.]
[Text from file received from the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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