Lovington to enlist MAPPING program

March 30, 2025 19

LOVINGTON — Lovington is the next community to enlist in the MAPPING The Future of Your Community program. Sessions for the MAPPING program will begin next week.

The program, overseen by the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University, takes a proactive approach to community and economic development planning.

The participant-driven program involves strategic visioning and planning where community leaders and volunteers create a long-range vision for the community and an action plan to act upon.

The program is spread across five three-hour sessions, addressing five different questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How are we going to get there? How do we make it happen? How do we make it happen and maintain momentum?

During these sessions, participants will identify three to five high-priority goals for the community, develop an action plan for implementation, and break into groups on their specific goals and projects.

After the sessions, there will be a community-wide town hall meeting to share their ideas and projects with the community and encourage local participation.

The five sessions are scheduled for April 9 and 30, and May 7, 14, and 21. Each session will kick off at 6 p.m. at the First Church of God Family Life Center, 232 W. State St. Participants are encouraged to commit to attending all five sessions.

Additional information is available by contacting Bennie Hume at (217) 791-9921 or by emailing [email protected].

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Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.