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KANKAKEE – Not far from where the Kankakee River meets up with Jeffers Park in Kankakee, there stood Leonel Jaramillo.
In the midst of a few budding trees, the small-business program facilitator with Kankakee’s Economic and Community Development Agency stood among others.
A black garbage bag in his left hand and a garbage grabber in his right, he got to work.
On this sun-soaked, breezy and warm spring day, Jaramillo was many blocks away from his East Court Street office. He also was far away from his calculator and laptop.
He was, however, one of an estimated 170 volunteers assisting with the United Way of Kankakee and Iroquois Counties’ Day of Action.
The Day of Action is run in conjunction with Earth Day activities.
It is a day filled with 14 community projects, many focused on cleanup and beautification.
The bulk of the projects were held in Kankakee, ranging from cleanups of parks and neighborhood areas to painting and playground work at Kankakee County Community Services Inc. and The Salvation Army.
There also was a Legion Park cleanup in Watseka, a Limestone Library grounds beautification project and a Perry Farm cleanup.
The project at West River Street’s Jeffers Park and the surrounding neighborhood involved gathering trash that had accumulated and clung to the brush near the river’s edge.
Jaramillo described Tuesday’s participation as rewarding. It didn’t hurt that the weather was picture perfect.
“Anything to get me out of the office,” he joked.
Tuesday marked Jaramillo’s second year of volunteering.
“To see employers giving back by allowing employees to do this, it’s beautiful,” the 2014 graduate of Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School said.
He also noted that there was no shortage of garbage to pick up.
In all, 24 volunteers had converged on Jeffers. Volunteers were on had from 1 to 3 p.m. or “until we run out of trash bags,” joked Samantha Rocknowski, also a ECDA employee, as well as an organizer for the Day of Action.
Melina Pizano, a United Way development manager, said even if she wasn’t connected to United Way, she would volunteer to work this event.
She said she lived not far from where the cleanup was taking place.
“Helping clean up helps our community,” she said.
Based on the number of filled trash bags throughout the community, there was no shortage of discarded waste in need of collection.
Jeni Garrett of St. Anne, who’s a member of Kankakee Community College’s Criminal Justice Club, said there was plenty of garbage from the Easter holiday.
She said her mother-in-law lived not far from the park a few years ago and often took her son to play at Jeffers Park.
Like others, she said a day outside the office was a welcome break.
Pay it forward
The projects were sponsored by Midland States Bank, CSL Behring, St. Mary’s Hospital, state Rep. Jackie Haas and Aqua Illinois.
Mariah Vail, United Way’s executive director, said 14 projects and 170 volunteers are lofty numbers, but even more projects could be tackled in years to come.
Volunteer numbers would need to grow to make such a vision reality.
The date for the 2026 project has not yet been identified.
“I would love to see this grow, but we will need a lot more people to help it grow,” Vail said. “The key ingredient to all of this is more people are needed.”
She said people want to be involved. They just need to be encouraged and invited.
“This is why this matters,” she said. “People can’t make a change in their community if don’t know their community.”
Lily Schultz of Kankakee, a CSL employee, anchored the day’s final project: the Perry Farm cleanup. She helped out at two other cleanups earlier in the day.
She directed a 15-person crew at Perry Farm.
She said getting a chance to breathe fresh air for a day and getting to play in the dirt was more than fun.
“I’ve wanted to find ways to get more involved, to pay things forward,” Schultz said. “I love the environment. If we all can come together, we can make a dent in this.”