DECATUR-- At the IAPD Best of the Best Awards Gala on September 28 in Wheeling, Illinois, the Decatur Park District’s partnerships with Decatur Memorial Hospital and Decatur Public School District #61 contributed to the receipt of two prestigious awards: the “Best Friend of Illinois Parks – Large Business” and “Intergovernmental Cooperation” awards.
The "Best Friend of Illinois Parks" is awarded to a business that has demonstrated exemplary support of a local park district, forest preserve, conservation, recreation or special recreation agency. DMH was selected for its years of financial support for the Decatur Park District’s golf programs, collaboration on recreational projects like Redbird Rookies Baseball, and efforts to improve the health of our community’s seniors with the Fit 3 program at the DISC.
The “Intergovernmental Cooperation Award” recognizes agencies and the units of government with which they have an agreement that maximize tax dollars and enhance the lives of community residents. For over half a century, the Decatur Park District and Decatur Public School District #61 have collaborated to build parks and schools together, to the benefit of students in grades K – 12. In the summer of 2011, Camp Connections was created to present education in a recreational setting. Over 1,000 students benefited from this unique learning experience, achieving measurable success in reading and math scores from the start to the end of camp.
“The two awards from the Illinois Association of Park Districts highlight the fact that the Decatur Park District and its partners provide programs that are second to none,” said Chris Riley, President of the Decatur Park Board of Commissioners. “We thank Decatur Memorial Hospital and Decatur Public School District #61 for decades of collaboration.”
