PEKIN, Ill. – Thousands of volunteers in the Pekin area serve in a variety of roles. And the city will now have a festival to honor them.
The first Pekin Community Picnic and Volunteer Celebration will take place on June 17th, coinciding with the town’s Juneteenth celebration.
The day will start at 10:00 A.M. with a dedication of the Nance Legins-Costley statute near the courthouse. The volunteer celebration will start around noon and last all day, featuring a street party.
Amazon has donated 300 meals for community volunteers at the event, with a signup online to claim a meal. Buttons for volunteers, a book about Costley, and decorations for the event have also been donated by Amazon.
Pekin United Way Executive Director Heather Robertson says she was inspired to create the event while coming upon one in Woodstock, New York while traveling.
“I was so taken with the idea of what energy it infused in their community to have people gathered together around this idea of volunteerism and community and the way that it just permeated the streets, and created this incredible welcoming environment that we happened upon by chance,” Robertson said.
Robertson is hopeful that volunteers will come together around tables at the event and get to know each other better.
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman says people in Pekin volunteer in many ways; whether as election judges, through the Boy Scouts, and even those who tend the flower beds near the courthouse.
Citing former President John F. Kennedy, Ackerman is hopeful the volunteer celebration inspires others to do similar work.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. And I believe as a society, we have started to move away from that, to a society that says ask what I can get rather what I can do,” Ackerman said. “I think this is an opportunity to recognize those individuals that are stepping forward, and to challenge the community for more volunteers to come forward.”
Leaders are hoping to make the celebration an annual event moving forward, especially with Pekin celebrating a bicentennial next year.
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