The Joliet City Council has donated $40,000 to help send a Joliet delegation to the All-America Award contest in Louisville next month.
Joliet is among 30 finalists, including south suburban Park Forest, in the 51st annual contest that honors communities that best exemplify the spirit of grass-roots citizen involvement and collaborative problem-solving. The 10 winning communities will be announced on June 3.
The delegation will include about 40 community members and the members of the All-City Student Band for Joliet Grade School District 86 and their chaperones. The 130-person delegation will leave on June 1.
The trip will cost about $80,000, Tom Mahalik, a leader of Joliet’s All-America 25-member steering committee, told the City Council. He said the committee, after asking local businesses to donate money, has pledges totaling about $20,000.
On June 2-3, representatives of the 30 finalist communities will make a 10-minute presentation to the All-America Jury about three projects in their towns that have addressed problems.
Joliet leaders plan to tout a city infrastructure improvement program, the work of the Joliet-based Joliet/Will County Center for Economic Development and the role of the Three Rivers Educational Partnership in assisting local schools.
“We are excited,” Mahalik said. “We are going to win.”
