Joliet MLK Day of Service draws 700 volunteers

A Joliet woman and her four young daughters were among the 700 participants at the 17th MLK Day of Service, co-hosted by Joliet Township High School and the African American Business Association.

Brigid Dowdle of Joliet was enjoying breakfast at the kickoff event Monday at Joliet Central High School with Shea, 8, Charlie, 8, Blake, 6, and Collins, 7, at her family’s third day of service.

Dowdle said the family picked up trash at the Forest Preserve District of Will County several years ago and volunteered for the MLK Day of Service in 2022.

They also signed up in 2023 – but that event was canceled due to inclement weather, Dowdle said.

“We just want to do a day of service, to give back,” Dowdle said. “It’s important to get them started young, I think.”

Both Shea and Charlie were eager to decorate baskets for veterans on Monday. Two years ago, the family took down Christmas decorations and put up Valentine’s Day decorations at a homeless shelter, Charlie said.

“It’s really fun to do all the activities,” Charlie said. “They’re all different.”

Jason Bentsen of Joliet came out to the MLK Day of Service with his son Truett Bentsen, 17, and a student at Joliet Central for two reasons.

“My son won a service award scholarship,” Jason Bentsen said. “So we’re here to celebrate him and serve. It’s pretty awesome to be part of so many people and kids serving through Joliet.”

Truett Bentsen was one of two recipients who received a $1,500 scholarship along with the Michael Austin Clark Community Service Award. Joliet West High School student Austin Kittl also received the award.

Truett Bentsen has volunteered with the children’s program at his family’s nonprofit Love Moves Us – which supports foster families – and at Restoration Christian Church in Joliet and with Joliet Police Explorer Post #220, Jason Bentsen said.

He said serving and helping communities is “very important.”

“I think everybody has the ability to do good,” Truett Bentsen said.

Three members of the Zonta Club of Joliet Area also volunteered since “part of our mission is to get into the community and participate in community service events,” said Pat Perrier, also owner of the Just Breathe yoga studio in Crest Hill.

Perrier was planning to paint a wall at the Boys and Girls Club of Joliet. Sylvia Acosta Chavez, executive director of the Spanish Community Center in Joliet, was planning to paint at Easter Seals of Joliet.

Miller was joining her fellow Zontians at the MLK Day of Service for the first time.

“I love Joliet and the community,” Miller said. “I just wanted to support and show encouragement for others, to get out and so something worthwhile.”

Matt Robinson, who retired as pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Joliet at 2022, thought the MLK Day of Service was a “good opportunity to give a day” of his time.

He was headed to Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Joliet “for whatever they have in store for me,” Robinson said.

Bruce Zaruba of Algonquin and formerly Bolingbrook is a volunteer with New Life for Old Bags, which meets at the Plainfield Public Library District.

Volunteers with New Life for Old Bags make plastic mats for the homeless out of old plastic bags, which Zaruba and a crew of volunteers – including several students – were doing for MLK Day of Service.

Unlike cardboard, which is ruined if it gets wet, the homeless are able to reuse the plastic mats, so the project really “makes an impact on the streets, Zaruba said.

MLK Day of Service co-Chair Kristine Schlismann, director of community and alumni relations at Joliet Township High School District 204, welcomed everyone to the event.

Schlismann drew attention from the podium to the full cafeteria of volunteers prepared to give a total of 2,100 service hours to 30 different projects on Monday and encouraged everyone to “give a round of applause.”

Matt Kennedy, Joliet Township High School District 204 board president, agreed the event wouldn’t happen without the volunteers.

“I’m especially proud as a board member at the amount of work we put back in the community,” Kennedy said.

The kickoff event include posting of the colors by Joliet Central High School’s JROTC, the Pledge of Allegiance, and members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church leading attendees in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice.”

Schlismann also thanked the sponsors, including Louie’s Waffle House, ARKAS Restaurant Group, Home Cut Donuts, Richardson’s and Ta Canijo – all in Joliet – who donated food for the complimentary breakfast and lunch.

“Remember those businesses when you’re out in the community,” Schlismann said. “We like to remember those who remember us.”

MLK Day of Service co-Chair Ericka Williams, assistant deputy director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, thanked the elected officials.

Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy praised the “remarkable courage” of Martin Luther King Jr., how King helped “shape the ongoing journey to equity” and how King still “continues to influence our country and continue to shape how we treat one another.”

Karla Guseman, superintendent of Joliet Township High School, praised the youth who forwent their day off from school in favor of a day of service.

Guseman said she loves “working in this community because people show up.”

“Thank you for coming here,” Guseman said, “and being the light in the community.”