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Thanking Sponsors and
Supporters of CAN DO!
Well, this is going to be a
very long list and I apologize for anyone I have forgotten to
include. It starts with my gratefulness for God and for my
parents who tried their best to lead me in the right way,
especially my Mother who gave me The Power of Positive Thinking
by Norman Vincent Peale when I was 16, and my Father, Major Drew
Walton Betterton, who is still a major influence in my life even
though he "graduated" from this plane of existence when I was
only 8 years old.
The projects in Kankakee
County
were always blessed by two incredible community leaders, Walter
J. Charlton and Dr. John P. Grumish.
Mr. Charlton had always
supported my community development efforts before, during and
after my service as Director of Community and Economic Develop-ment
for the City of Kankakee, Illinois.
Les Brown presenting Mr.
Charlton with the first CAN DO! Award
Can-do Attitude earns Grumish
chamber honor
Kankakee Daily Journal March 29, 1999
Dr. Grumish was the first individual to fully support our
initial efforts to establish cause-oriented companies such as
EAGLES LLC, Universal Empowerment, Inc. and later Ultimate
Destiny.
The Empowerment Training Mentoring
Systems are modeled
after the cabinet of motivational programs Dr. Grumish keeps in
his office to share with clients.
After I moved to California
to learn about building cause oriented for-profit companies, my
team and I launched the Ultimate Destiny Hall of Fame Award
program. Following the advice of my mentors Dr. Grumish and Mr.
Charlton, I decided to give myself
the first award, Imagine That!
Dr. Grumish received the
second award, then Les Brown received his. Unfortunately, Mr.
Charlton had "graduated" before we could present him with his.
Mark and Guia Hoffman were among the first to invest in the
beginning of what has now evolved into several affiliated
companies and non-profit organizations that share the vision and
mission of empowerment, enlightenment and transformation.
Now let me list some of the
others who were involved while I can remember them:
Dr. Philip Zediker has always
been a supporter of personal and community empowerment. He also
provided the initial funding for the CAN DO! events with Mark
Victor Hansen.
Kevin Spivey was the main
co-creator along with Charles Betterton of the first Community
Unity Event in 1990 with Norman Vincent Peale and Les Brown.
Rev. Arleen Schmaltz
co-founded CENTER SPACE, the Center for Spiritual, Personal And
Community Empowerment.
Francis Smith generously
provided a base of operations at the Illinois Diversatech Campus
and donated about $12,000 of recreational equipment to support
the Community Resource Center.
Rita Head and the
Bradley-Bourbonnais Chamber of Commerce
The Kankakee River Valley
Chamber of Commerce
Phil Angelo and the Daily
Journal
Toby Olszewski and the Herald
County Market
David Merkel of Colonial
Studio who always got the best possible photos
Charles Wren, a Dale Carnegie
Course facilitator, and one of the most generous people in the
world, who sponsored our work personally, energetically and
financially.
Ken Best who provided advice,
support and a base of operations for a model Center for
Successful Living
Jim Bridgewater and Midwest
Transit who was a regular supporter of CAN DO!
Norm Graham who generously
bought a building to support the City's Community Development
Agency and Community Development Center
Willis and Shirley Johnson of
the Paramount Theater
Dr. John Bowling and Olivet
Nazarene University who provided the best venue in the County
for several of our major programs.
Chuck Burke
Gary Moore
Tim Milner
Bill Guertin WKAN radio
Gary Wright of WKAN radio
Lorie Naese of Speckman
Realty
Arlen Speckman
Susie Brown, the President of
the Kankakee County United Way
Ray Stuchly, of Leadership
Motivation International
Tom Schenck, consultant in
Champaign who co-founded the CSL in Kankakee
Ron Fiscus of Minuteman Press
Harold Moe who provided
access to the Brian Tracy affiliate program
Renee Trenda who was always
there when needed, whether that was staffing a booth or making
homemade cookies because we could not afford to buy them for the
first major event with Brian Tracy.
Charles Whitnel of The
Resource Group of America in Nashville who taught us every thing
he knew as the owner of one of the premier speakers' bureaus in
the US.
Larry and Judy Linman of
McDonalds who frequently provided meals for committee meetings.
Tim Schmidt and the Board of
Directors for the Kankakee Development Corporation that worked
closely with the Kankakee Community Development Corporation to
transform the Kankakee National Guard Armory building into an
award-winning Community Resource Center.
Mayor Don Green of Kankakee
and then Mayor Grover Brooks of Bourbonnais.
Tom Clark, then Executive
Director of the United Way of Kankakee County who supported the
community development initiatives.
Kimberley Chievrue, a
reporter for the Daily Journal
Lisa Laney, a reporter for
the Daily Journal
Ed Biershenk, a reporter for
the Daily Journal
Marx Gibson, former Managing
Editor of the Daily Journal who supported and encouraged
community development effors.
OPTIONS
Kenda Pardy, then President
of the Options Board
Ronnie Marroquin of
Rutherford Publishing
and of course the
individuals who came to Kankakee and Muncie and Gary to
participate:
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
Les Brown
Jim Rohn
Brian Tracy
Mark Victor Hansen
Bonnie St. John
Paul. J. Meyer
Chin Ning Chu
Aleda Bowers
Dr. Michael Swack, founder
and Dean of the Community Economic Development Masters program
at Southern New Hampshire University
Dr. Richard Poston of the
Community Development Society
Dr. George Pintar of the
Illinois Community Educational Association
Jeffrey Bercevitz then of
Regeneration
Grew Jordan, then with
Community Renewal Society
Professor Steven Balkin of
Roosevelt University who helped promote what became a highly
successful micro-enterprise development program.
Patricia Hudson who was the
cement that held together the building blocks of the initial
vision of the Community Resource Center.
PLEASE: If you were also a
participant or sponsor of CAN DO! and I failed to list you,
please forgive me AND contact me right away so I can add you to
the list.
charlesbetterton@gmail.com
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