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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to honor Donna and Leonard Harris, | ||||||
| 4 | co-owners of Chatham Foods Center in Chicago, for 21 years of | ||||||
| 5 | dedicated service to their community; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Donna and Leonard Harris have owned and operated | ||||||
| 7 | the Chatham Food Center, located in the Chatham Neighborhood on | ||||||
| 8 | the south side of Chicago, since 1987; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, After receiving his bachelor's degree in | ||||||
| 10 | accounting and becoming a Certified Public Accountant, Leonard | ||||||
| 11 | Harris accepted a position with Food Basket Certified Grocery | ||||||
| 12 | Store in 1973, working closely with the owner, Mr. Ernest T. | ||||||
| 13 | Collins; over the following five years, he also worked at the | ||||||
| 14 | other Collins chain stores located at 79th & Yates and 103rd & | ||||||
| 15 | King Drive in Chicago; Mr. Collins served as young Mr. Harris' | ||||||
| 16 | mentor, advising him to invest in the business; Mr. Collins' | ||||||
| 17 | advice inspired Mr. Harris to acquire 11 percent of the | ||||||
| 18 | business and become an officer in the Food Basket Grocery | ||||||
| 19 | chain, eventually serving as Vice President and President; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, After a time as friends, Donna and Leonard Harris | ||||||
| 21 | formulated their friendship into a business partnership and | ||||||
| 22 | opened their first store, the Harbor Food Center, Inc. in East | ||||||
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| 1 | Chicago, Indiana, in 1980; two years later, in 1982, they got | ||||||
| 2 | married; Donna Harris brought retail experience into their | ||||||
| 3 | partnership, having worked at Jewel Foods in several | ||||||
| 4 | capacities; together, they maintained and operated the Harbor | ||||||
| 5 | Food Center until 1987; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, In 1987, Donna and Leonard Harris acquired the | ||||||
| 7 | Chatham Food Center; the two have been major stakeholders in | ||||||
| 8 | the Chatham community for 19 years; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Together, Donna and Leonard Harris have acquired | ||||||
| 10 | many recognitions, including the Rainbow PUSH Coalition | ||||||
| 11 | Business of the Year, the Shell Academy Community Mentoring | ||||||
| 12 | Award, the WVON Kwanzaa Community Leadership and Service Award, | ||||||
| 13 | the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce Eliose Johnson Award, the | ||||||
| 14 | Chesterfield Community Council Business Leadership Award, and | ||||||
| 15 | the Chatham Avalon Park Business of the Year; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Donna and Leonard Harris' entrepreneurial spirit | ||||||
| 17 | and long-term commitment to their community serves as an | ||||||
| 18 | inspiration to the citizens of the State of Illinois; | ||||||
| 19 | therefore, be it
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| 20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 21 | NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 22 | honor Donna and Leonard Harris, co-owners of Chatham Foods | ||||||
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| 1 | Center in Chicago, for 21 years of dedicated service to their | ||||||
| 2 | community and wish them continued success and happiness in the | ||||||
| 3 | future; and be it further
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| 4 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 5 | presented to Donna and Leonard Harris as a symbol of our esteem | ||||||
| 6 | and respect.
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