093_HR0491

 
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 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,  The  members   of   the   Illinois   House   of
 3    Representatives wish to congratulate Willie Wilson of Chicago
 4    on  being  honored  for  his  unselfish  contributions to his
 5    community as a member of the National Black McDonald's  Owner
 6    Operators Association (NBMCA); and

 7        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Wilson  has  been  a successful McDonald's
 8    owner/operator for the past 23 years; and

 9        WHEREAS, Mr. Wilson, the son of a sharecropper, was  born
10    in Gilbert, Louisiana; he had one initial dream, to make life
11    easier for his hard working parents who worked from sun up to
12    sun down in the fields; and

13        WHEREAS,  Armed  with  this  dream, young Mr. Wilson left
14    home only to find himself in a Florida work camp  he  likened
15    to  slavery;  he  had never finished the eighth grade and was
16    forced to work for  very  little;  throughout  this  time  of
17    financial  difficulty,  Mr.  Wilson was rich in his dreams of
18    becoming an entrepreneur; and

19        WHEREAS, Mr. Wilson eventually relocated to  Chicago  and
20    began  mopping  floors  at  a McDonald's Restaurant for $2 an
21    hour; he never thought he would one day  own  four  of  these
22    restaurants;  one  day  he asked Ray Kroc, the founder of the
23    McDonald's chain, to give him his own store, and the rest  is
24    history; and

25        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Wilson  sold  three of his restaurants and
26    today has the "Singsation" gospel show aired on  WGN-TV  each
27    Sunday;   he   is  chairman  of  Gemini  Electronics  LLC,  a
28    minority-owned, full-service telecommunications  company  and
29    is  the  founder/CEO  of  Omar  Medical  Supplies Inc., which
30    supplied 100,000 medical and healthcare supplies and is named
31    after his late son; he also produces gospel records and is an
 
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 1    ordained minister; and

 2        WHEREAS, A  multimillionaire  today,  Mr.  Wilson  enjoys
 3    giving  away hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to civic
 4    causes including churches, especially those having youth  and
 5    elderly  programs;  he  sold  his last McDonald's Restaurant,
 6    located in Chicago, and today is a McDonald's supplier; and

 7        WHEREAS, The National Black  McDonald's  Owner  Operators
 8    Association  (NBMCA) is honoring Mr. Wilson at a reception on
 9    October 8, 2003 at the Westin Hotel in Chicago; therefore, be
10    it

11        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
12    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
13    we  honor  Willie  Wilson  for  his  many  achievements   and
14    contributions and wish him health and happiness in all of his
15    future endeavors; and be it further

16        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
17    presented to Willie Wilson as an expression  of  our  respect
18    and esteem.