Each Classic Plumbing Plumber of the Month winner receives over $100 in prizes from the following sponsors: David Wickboldt at Legal Shield, Tim Culver at Classic Plumbing, Scott Miller at Bulldog Automotive, Felipe and Carmen Rebollo at Los Zarapes and Dani Tietz at the Mahomet Daily.
It doesn’t take much to make a lasting impact on a community.
Ten oak trees were planted in Mahomet’s Barber Park this spring. And leading the initiative was Mahomet-Seymour Sophomore Natalie Mitchell.
“Natalie demonstrated leadership skills in helping to coordinate all of the moving parts to the project,” Mahomet Parks and Recreation Department Director Dan Waldinger said. “She was also instrumental in volunteer recruitment and proved that she was an effective communicator throughout. “
After receiving a $400 grant from Farm Credit to do a landscape project, Mitchell connected with the Mahomet Lions Club who donated another $1,000 and Mahomet Landscapes, who contributed mulch, and Sunset Landscapes, who put in another $100 towards trees.
“We were looking for another service project to do in our FFA Club,” Mitchell said. “We saw the Interact Club at the high school did tree planting at 13 Acres, so we wanted to do something like that.”
Mitchell was also responsible in getting manpower for the project set up. With her fellow FFA members by her side, Mitchell also encouraged Mahomet-Seymour Junior High FFA members to participate and relied on Mahomet resident Jim Goss to bring his equipment to dig holes.
Mitchell also worked with J.U.L.I.E. to make sure the group would not hit electric lines.
“We all worked together and it made the job go pretty quick,” Mitchell said.
“These trees are a great addition to our Park and will serve many generations of visitors for years to come,” Waldinger said.
Mitchell, who will be a junior during the 2018-2019 school year, has been selected to be the Secretary and Community Service Chair for FFA next year.
While her family is involved in the Mahomet community on many levels, Mitchell said that FFA has provided her with many opportunities to become a responsible citizen and also grow personally.
Through projects like collecting pop tabs for recycling, cleaning up IL-150 near McDonald’s, playing BINGO with Bridle Brook residents and hosting a book drive at Sangamon Elementary, which resulted in 13 boxes of books being donated to Orphans Treasure Box in Champaign, Mitchell said that she’s learned that it is important to know your community and become involved in it.
Mitchell is also looking forward to honing in her leadership skills through FFA as an upperclassman.
She said that FFA gives students the opportunity to practice skills, such as public speaking, career development and presentation, prepare them for the world after high school.
With two more years at Mahomet-Seymour High School, Mitchell is looking forward to discovering more ways to help the Mahomet community.
“We will try and see what new things we can do with our community service,” she said.
