Ald. Stephanie Coleman (Photo Provided).
Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) will publicly welcome and thank the family of the late Rev. Donald Meeks and Meeks Foundation for their continued generosity as they will distribute $50.00 monetary gift cards to over 100 challenged families of Englewood who seek to provide for their kids at Christmas.
Pastor Donald Meeks was the proud 1st Choice Outreach Ministries pastor and an elected trustee of the Village of Matteson. Pastor Meeks passed away on July 4, 2022.
Over the past two decades, Pastor Meeks began an annual tradition of surprising Englewood area families with monetary gifts during the holidays. This year, his children will continue that tradition in the Englewood community, where Pastor Meeks was raised.
The family has worked directly with Ald. Coleman in selecting 100 Englewood families challenged by inflation and the national economy.
“This is such a beautiful and magnificent act of love by the Donald Meeks Foundation to assist struggling families. But it is also the very fiber of love and generosity in which Pastor Meeks was known. As the Alderman of this ward, I am grateful, honored and blessed that the Meeks family reached out to me and offered themselves in this manner,” said Ald. Coleman.
Pastor Meeks was a co-chair of the Ministers for Manufacturing committee of the Chicagoland Manufacturing Renaissance Council (CMRC), representing the south suburbs.
Rev. Meeks said in an interview that training young people in underserved communities for jobs in manufacturing “is a good alternative to give our youth an upper hand in learning a marketable skill and help them with a career path that they may not presently have. It’s something that nobody can take away from them once they get certified. It also deters them from other activities – like drive-bys, robberies and break-ins. Let’s give our youth viable alternatives to work for money.”
Pastor Meeks is remembered by many as a phenomenal pillar of the community. He cherished the community of Englewood and often reflected upon his childhood in the area.
Bishop Larry D. Trotter of the Sweet Holy Spirit Church adds, “Donald Meeks was an extraordinary figure within the Black church. He was a man of tremendous heart, value, and integrity. His annual tradition of distributing monies throughout Englewood and beyond has been well noted and celebrated. I am so proud of the Meeks family for continuing this impressive tradition.
Ald. Coleman concludes, “It is totally awesome of the Meeks family to commemorate Pastor Meeks and his legacy by blessing the neighborhood that made him who he was not only to Chicago but to Southland. He never forgot about his community. Even in death.”
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