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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Carl and Melinda Cannon on
4the occasion of winning the Whitney M. Young Award from the Boy
5Scouts of America; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Carl Cannon spent most of his career in law
7enforcement; after graduating from Peoria Central High School,
8he joined the United States Army, where he distinguished
9himself in the ranks of the Military Police; SFC Cannon was
10awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (3rd Oak Leaf Cluster),
11the Army Commendation Medal (4th Cluster), and the Army
12Achievement Medal (5th Cluster), as well as a Meritorious Unit
13Award for his role in quelling a riot at the United States
14Disciplinary Barracks in 1994; in 2010, he was designated as
15the United States Army Illinois Citizen of Interest; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Wanting to return to his hometown when he retired
17from the military, Carl Cannon accepted a position at the
18nearby Pekin Federal Correctional Institution; in 2000, he
19received the nationally recognized Selective Placement Program
20Manager of the Year for the North Central Region and was on his
21way to becoming one of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' best and
22brightest; his career path was cut short when he decided that
23he no longer wanted to excel at keeping men in prison, but

 

 

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1rather focus on what he could do with youth to keep them from
2going to prison in the first place; this focus led him to begin
3his transition from a Correctional Officer to a Youth Outreach
4Pioneer; he now serves as Assistant General Manager of
5Recreation with responsibility for Youth Outreach at the Peoria
6Park District; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Carl Cannon has taken his motivational "do right"
8message to well over 400,000 youth in Illinois, Kansas,
9Michigan, Ohio, and Washington D.C.; he is a past member of the
10Children's Hospital Advisory Board, the Pediatric Resource
11Center Board, and the Catholic Charities Board of Directors; he
12is also a Commissioner with the Peoria Housing Authority and a
13member of the Don't Shoot Governance Board; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Carl Cannon founded the ELITE Youth Outreach
15Program in 2006; through ELITE, he and an army of volunteers
16have trained over 1,100 students in the ELITE soft-skills
17curriculum in eight different area high schools; the ELITE
18Program has an everyday presence in two Peoria public schools,
19where ELITE Compliance Officers help maintain discipline so
20teachers can teach; since the ELITE Re-Entry Program was
21founded in 2009, 115 individuals have successfully graduated
22from the program with a recidivism rate of around 8%,
23significantly lower than the 60% national recidivism rate; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Carl Cannon was a recipient of the 2003 National
2Parks and Recreation Association Humanitarian Service Award,
3the 2003 Illinois Attorney General Peace Keeper Award, the 2003
4National Everyday Heroes Award from Court TV and Insight
5Communications, and the 2004 National Caring Award; he was
6inducted into the National Caring Hall of Fame in Washington
7D.C.; he is a 2005 inductee of the Central Illinois African
8American Hall of Fame, a 2007 recipient of the Central Illinois
9Interfaith Alliance Faith and Freedom Award and the American
10Red Cross Local Heroes Award, a 2008 inductee of the Rotary
11Foundation of Rotary International, he is also a recipient of
12the Paul Harris Fellow Award for Community Service; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Carl and Melinda Cannon have been married for 33
14years; they are the parents of two lovely daughters, Summer
15(Melton) Wright and Danielle (Cody) Randle, and the
16grandparents of one grandson, Logan, with another grandchild
17expected in early 2017; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
20congratulate Carl and Melinda Cannon on the occasion of winning
21the Whitney M. Young Award from the Boy Scouts of America and
22wish them continued success and happiness in the future; and be
23it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2presented to Carl and Melinda Cannon as a symbol of our esteem
3and respect.