Brian Bessler receives Allen Award for Service to the Community

Project Acclaim has selected Brian Bessler to receive the Reverend James E. Allen Award for Service to the Community.

This award recognizes individuals or organizations who: show selfless devotion of community by direct action, perform actions that have a community-wide impact, and perform actions that have enhanced the best interests of the community.

Project Acclaim selected Brian Bessler for his role in starting the Joliet Area Bar & Restaurant Guide Facebook Group.

When news broke in March 2020 that everything other than essential businesses would be closed for the unforeseen future, Bessler wanted to help friends who owned businesses as well as the overall area economy.

To this end, Bessler started the Joliet Area Bar & Restaurant Guide Facebook Group. As a direct result of this action, many area restaurants received new exposure, continued sales and cash flow, creation of jobs and most importantly a sense of community during such a trying time.

With the help of his wife Mary Kay Bessler, several group moderators and restaurants in the Joliet area, the Facebook group quickly succeeded. It has over 15,000 active users weekly, 2,500 monthly posts and over 15,000 monthly post comments.

Many businesses that were struggling even before the pandemic have used the Facebook group to reach out to new customers at no cost and in turn those customers have used the Facebook group spotlight their experiences.

Some restaurants even saw an increase in sales and therefore had to hire extra support staff.

Around the same time as starting the Joliet Area Bar & Restaurant Guide Facebook group, Brian also started the "Donate A Meal" Program, which facilitated the donation of nearly 5,000 meals to area first responders in the early months of the pandemic.

Brian also has since started two additional Facebook groups: Joliet Area Small Business Resource Guide and Joliet Area Family Fun Guide.

Brian was born, raised and currently lives in Joliet with his wife and children.

As a small business owner here in Joliet (Brian is a real estate broker with Karges Realty for 13 years and owner of Moonstep Productions and Moonstep Creative Staffing for 22 years), Brian understands the struggles of entrepreneurs.

Brian has also served on the school board for the Cathedral of St. Raymond School and volunteered with the Big Brother Big Sister program.