Ali Akhatar and Jameel Ahmed
CHICAGO: A group of Indian Americans led by Dr Vijay Prabhaker, FIA trustee chair Iftekhar Shareef , Kishore Mehta and others hosted a fundraiser under the auspices of Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force (MEATF)for Chicago Mayoral candidate Dr Willie Wilson at Hema’s Kitchen on Devon Avenue on Wednesday February 11. The event was attended by prominent Indian community members and business persons.
The owner of Hema’s Kitchen and also a leader in her community honored Dr Wilson with a traditional Indian Shawl. Kishore Mehta welcomed the guests and urged Iftekhar Shareef, a community leader and Trustee Chair of Federation of Indian Associations to introduce Dr WilIie Wilson.
Introducing Dr Wilson to Chicago Indian community, Shareef remarked that there was something about Dr Wilson that appealed him to come forward and support him. That he was a person who started his life and business from a ground level and he still shares the needs of fellow citizens.
“Every day he walks out of his home with cash in pocket and distributes among people in need,” Shareef said, “That makes you feel here is a person who has a noble heart and knows how to serve the people and their needs.”
Iftekhar Shareef also compared Dr Wilson to Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal who recently won common man’s mandate and came to power. Dr Wilson has a noble heart, a person who has strong faith in his religion, a successful businessman and a spirit to help others. “We need people like him in public service and politics,” Shareef remarked.
Dr Wilson started his career with the fast-food corporation, mopping floors for $2 an hour. Later Wilson owned a McDonald’s and moved on to own three additional locations. He has strong support in the south side of City.
Addressing Indian community, Dr Wilson thanked all for support and spoke about his own plan for city development. He wanted a safe and business oriented City of Chicago. His top priority is economic empowerment and stimulating the growth of communities through strong, new business opportunities.
“I propose to take city owned empty lots, vacant buildings and potentially other, larger buildings and sell them to members of communities and people who want to start new business for one dollar, as we have done before,” Dr Wilson emphasized.
He has more concern for the safety of citizens and wanted police officers back on streets and reaching to all neighborhoods. Later, Dr Wilson individually met all the prominent Indian community leaders and shared their concerns.
There was a brief QA session where Dr Wilson was questioned by the audience on various topics on current state of affairs and how he will bring about change to improve on them. The topics included parking meters on streets near shops and businesses which hurt the growth of businesses, opening mental health facilities for mentally ill, pardons for prisoners with drug or mental issues and the need to transfer them to mental health facilities and rehabs, and ways to fight poverty.
Besides the fundraiser on Devon Avenue there was another fundraiser for Dr Wilson at Dr Jawed Eshan’s residence in Oakbrook on Friday February 13. According to Kishore Mehta of MEATF, the two fundraisers helped raise close to $11,000 for the Mayoral candidate. Mehta at the end proposed a vote of thanks.
A.Q. Siddiqui & Madhu Patel
India Post News Service
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