Best Township Program or Campaign
37. Groveland Township/Tazewell County, 15,000-25,000
Barb Hart Scholarship ProgramDescription: The township awards two $500 scholarships per year to one male and one female recipient.
38. DeKalb Township/DeKalb County 25,000-50,000
Cleaning Supplies Program
Description: DeKalb Township started a program to provide home cleaning supply assistance for General Assistance (GA) clients. While many forms of assistance are available to people with low incomes, we have discovered that cleaning supplies for a person’s home are often hard to come by and end up being a “luxury” item for most. As we know, these items are not really an optional item for maintaining a safe and clean home environment. With those thoughts in mind, our General Assistance Department began supplying our clients with basic cleaning products as part of their benefits. After much research, the DeKalb Township decided to use Shaklee products for our clients for several reasons. The township offers both a cleaning starter kit and all accessories.
39. Ela Township/Lake County 25,000-50,000
Ela – 55 Plus Program – Program for Seniors
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Description: Communication is key for the award-winning Ela 55 Plus senior program. To make residents aware of all that is offered to them, we publish a quarterly newsletter that is mailed to over 2,000 program participants. Our newsletter is packed with information about our trips, classes, programs and senior services. It is available online, at the Ela Township Hall, Ela Library and multiple stores and restaurants.
40. Wheeling Township/Cook County; population: 50,000+
Seats for Sailors – Fundraiser
Description: Campaign to raise funds to transport recruits to and from American Legion and Great Lakes for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
41. Hanover Township/Cook County 50,000+
A Matter of Time – Senior Puppet Show
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Description: Hanover Township Senior Services recently put on their first-ever marionette production, entitled “A Matter of Time”. The entire production took over one year of planning and preparation by 14 senior center residents. The residents created 27 custom marionettes that
were used in the production, along with stage props, and painted back drops. Residents made marionettes and stage props with clay, wire, tin, wood, paper Mache, branches, different fabrics, dog fur, marbles, and acrylic paint. Everybody had a hand in creating the production and making it come to life. The class instructor wrote the original script, but the senior center residents edited the story weekly leading up to the
final production. Senior center residents also prerecorded sound effects and music to be played back and manipulated to their puppets on stage in the final performance. Between weekly script rehearsals and five full-length stage rehearsals, the seniors spend countless hours over the past year perfecting the production. On the day of the performance, over 50 people attended to watch, many having to stand due to an overwhelming turn out. Two months later, an encore performance was put on due to positive feedback and demand for another performance.
42. Maine Township/Cook County 50,000+
Maine Township Recovery Connection Program
Message/Description: Addiction is a chronic disease of the brain. Many thought a visit to drug rehab is the answer, but they were wrong. Recovery from addiction, we are learning, can occur in the community outside of hospital walls.
Maine Township has built a coalition of health, government, business and the recovery community to support sobriety among emerging adults. We recognize this stage of life often involves social outings, parties and bars. We aim to provide weekend activities and outings with other programs to keep young people flourishing in sobriety. While most communities are involved in drug prevention, we wanted to extend that to support drug recovery.
43. DuPage Township/Will County 50,000+
Description: We provide a free summer camp for over 250 kids from our community, grades K-8th. The camp runs (3) days per week and lasts for eight weeks. Included in this camp, we take them on 3 field trips, which this year included ice skating, mini golfing, and the water park. Throughout the weeks of camp, the kids are able to form friendships, learn life skills, and have fun through a variety of activities, games, and music.
44. Elk Grove Township/Cook County 50,000+
Snow Angels Program
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Description: In October 2015, Consolidated School District 59, in Elk Grove Township, notified township officials of the need for snow pants and snow boots for many of their students. Students without adequate winter-wear are unable to go outside during recess when when snow is present. There is also the issue of students returning to the classroom with wet shoes and pants due to inadequate winter clothing, which results in discomfort and hinders in the classroom.
Elk Grove Township was motivated to tackle this issue with the introduction of the Snow Angels Campaign. Snow Angels is a collaborative effort between Elk Grove Township residents, local businesses, and churches to donate, collect, and hold onsite delivery locations to gather new or gently used snow pants and snow boots. This fierce and joint effort led Elk Grove Township to collect over 600 items during the 6 week program, which were distributed to local students in need. With the success of the introductory year of this campaign, Elk Grove Township is working to make the Snow Angels program an annual service to the community.