New Lenox Wins Governor's Home Town Award for 2nd Time

The prestigious award was won for an outpouring of community support of ShareFest 2011.

New Lenox Wins Home Town Award for Unprecedented 2nd Year in a Row

The prestigious award was won for an outpouring of community support of ShareFest 2011.

For the second year in a row, the Village of New Lenox was presented the Governor's Home Town Award at a ceremony Thursday at the Governor's Mansion in Springfield. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) administer the program that found ShareFest 2011 something to shout about. Last year the village won for Preparing Citizens for Emergencies and Disaster, a program created and facilitated through the Safe Communities America Coalition and Citizen Corps Council.   Readers might like: While ShareFest has just now completed its seventh year, ShareFest 2011 was the year it expanded partnership with more than 70 different organizations and gathered hundreds of volunteers. The annual program is locally dubbed 11 Days…

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CCW

6:35 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012

HAHAHA..Your the best dude! All of your comments are insulting and demeaning. I guess when you hang out over at the Old French Fort with the girls and have to hide your secret lifestyle, it makes you angry. Jagoff!   more ›

A New Way to Pay It Forward Through ShareFest

The ShareFest 2012 Committee is handing out tokens sporting the "Pay It Forward" philosophy.

Gary Cheney, committee member and co-organizer of the sixth annual ShareFest 2012, gets a gleam in his blue eyes when he talks about the newest dimension to the 11 days of giving, which started Sept. 1. Manning the semi-trailer parked in the lot at St. Jude Catholic Church for collections dropped off to benefit a family or a face unknown, Cheney said "we have tokens" for people who volunteer or donate in one way or another during the event that for New Lenox residents is known as 11 days of giving. The tokens read: "Congratulations! You've received a 'Youmanity' token and have been selected to start a chain of kindness." Find out more about how you can help or receive help through ShareFest.  Unlike the chain letters that fill the Email …

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ShareFest New Lenox

9:47 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Three of the New Lenox tokens have been registered so far, and these two comments have been made in the online tracking tool: I received my token at a ShareFest Committee Meeting that I attended at 12:00pm on April 24, 2012. The first thing that came to mind was a co-worker named Audrie that was nice enough to bake two delicious cakes for our staff to enjoy. She brought them in this morning and …   more ›

3 R's of ShareFest: Recycling, Reuse and Reading

New Lenox resident and ShareFest chairman Gary Cheney talks in a video about the many efforts of an organization he launched—the list running the gamut from assisting senor citizens to promoting literacy through an annual book drive.

“R” words are big ones in the vocabulary of ShareFest officials and volunteers. The New Lenox-based organization is all about Recycling and Reuse. ShareFest volunteers will collect goods ranging from scrap metal (nuts, bolts, screws, pieces of old pipe) to textiles and home goods (clothing, linens, blankets) during their Eleven Days of Giving event from Sept. 1-11. The big collection is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at Spencer Trail School, 1701 S. Spencer Road, New Lenox. But Gary Cheney, who first launched ShareFest in September of 2007 and now serves as chairman of the organization, wants to make sure the message gets out across the Southland that ShareFest’s alphabet runs from A to Z. He and others working within the …

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Recycling and Reuse Stand at Forefront of ShareFest Agenda

New Lenox Township supervisor Bill McCollum talks in a video about the pride area residents take in teaming up with ShareFest chairman Gary Cheney to help clean up the community.

Gary Cheney was sitting around the Thanksgiving dinner table with his family when he was called to action several years ago by “one of those still, small voices that you hear that comes from deep within your heart.” “When our family comes together—religion and politics are often a topic of discussion,” said Cheney, an independent insurance broker and chairman of the New Lenox ShareFest organization that is gearing up for its annual good deed/collection drive Sept. 1-11. The drive recently was hailed as “Eleven Days of Giving” by mayor Tim Baldermann. “We can debate that in a civil manner and actually enjoy it,” Cheney said. “One Thanksgiving back in ’06, we were gathering as a family and there were a number of things in the world that had …

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Gary Cheney's Vision: People Helping People

A childhood of hardship—diabetes, blindness and a friend’s untimely death—shaped the man Cheney became. The creator of the annual ShareFest made him a local leader who continues to help countless people in need.

If you’re in need of help in New Lenox, no matter what the problem, there’s one guy who can probably find a solution. Gary Cheney. A childhood of hardship—diabetes, blindness and a friend’s death at a young age—shaped the man Cheney became. It made him realize he’s not perfect, and he knows nobody is. Everyone needs help, and through a life of service he’s become the connection in New Lenox for people seeking help and those able to provide it. “I’ve always had the care for others in my heart,” he said. “My dad and mom were both loving, caring people, and they demonstrated to me how important it was to not focus on yourself.” Take, for example, when 45 college students from Minnesota were traveling through Joliet on a nine-city service tour…

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