HR1373 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1373 LRB099 22720 GRL 50151 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Carl and Melinda Cannon on the occasion of winning the Whitney M. Young Award from the Boy Scouts of America; and

WHEREAS, Carl Cannon spent most of his career in law enforcement; after graduating from Peoria Central High School, he joined the United States Army, where he distinguished himself in the ranks of the Military Police; SFC Cannon was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (3rd Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Commendation Medal (4th Cluster), and the Army Achievement Medal (5th Cluster), as well as a Meritorious Unit Award for his role in quelling a riot at the United States Disciplinary Barracks in 1994; in 2010, he was designated as the United States Army Illinois Citizen of Interest; and

WHEREAS, Wanting to return to his hometown when he retired from the military, Carl Cannon accepted a position at the nearby Pekin Federal Correctional Institution; in 2000, he received the nationally recognized Selective Placement Program Manager of the Year for the North Central Region and was on his way to becoming one of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' best and brightest; his career path was cut short when he decided that he no longer wanted to excel at keeping men in prison, but rather focus on what he could do with youth to keep them from going to prison in the first place; this focus led him to begin his transition from a Correctional Officer to a Youth Outreach Pioneer; he now serves as Assistant General Manager of Recreation with responsibility for Youth Outreach at the Peoria Park District; and

WHEREAS, Carl Cannon has taken his motivational "do right" message to well over 400,000 youth in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington D.C.; he is a past member of the Children's Hospital Advisory Board, the Pediatric Resource Center Board, and the Catholic Charities Board of Directors; he is also a Commissioner with the Peoria Housing Authority and a member of the Don't Shoot Governance Board; and

WHEREAS, Carl Cannon founded the ELITE Youth Outreach Program in 2006; through ELITE, he and an army of volunteers have trained over 1,100 students in the ELITE soft-skills curriculum in eight different area high schools; the ELITE Program has an everyday presence in two Peoria public schools, where ELITE Compliance Officers help maintain discipline so teachers can teach; since the ELITE Re-Entry Program was founded in 2009, 115 individuals have successfully graduated from the program with a recidivism rate of around 8%, significantly lower than the 60% national recidivism rate; and

WHEREAS, Carl Cannon was a recipient of the 2003 National Parks and Recreation Association Humanitarian Service Award, the 2003 Illinois Attorney General Peace Keeper Award, the 2003 National Everyday Heroes Award from Court TV and Insight Communications, and the 2004 National Caring Award; he was inducted into the National Caring Hall of Fame in Washington D.C.; he is a 2005 inductee of the Central Illinois African American Hall of Fame, a 2007 recipient of the Central Illinois Interfaith Alliance Faith and Freedom Award and the American Red Cross Local Heroes Award, a 2008 inductee of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, he is also a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow Award for Community Service; and

WHEREAS, Carl and Melinda Cannon have been married for 33 years; they are the parents of two lovely daughters, Summer (Melton) Wright and Danielle (Cody) Randle, and the grandparents of one grandson, Logan, with another grandchild expected in early 2017; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Carl and Melinda Cannon on the occasion of winning the Whitney M. Young Award from the Boy Scouts of America and wish them continued success and happiness in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Carl and Melinda Cannon as a symbol of our esteem and respect.