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Secretary of State Jesse White honored for decades of service to community at coat giveaway
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White kneels as the Jesse White Tumbling Team performs during White’s last public appearance at the Jesse White Community Center in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. White, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) and the Korean American Friendship Network gave away 500 coats and 200 socks, according to a press release. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Outgoing Secretary of State Jesse White was honored Saturday at his namesake community center on the Near North Side, where speakers celebrated his leadership and philanthropy, volunteers handed out winter essentials and White’s tumbling team dazzled the crowd.
White, who is Illinois’ longest-serving secretary of state, declined to seek reelection this year, and fellow Democrat Alexi Giannoulias will be replacing him in January. Saturday’s event at the Jesse White Community Center, 401 W. Chicago Ave., served as a jovial sendoff.
Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), White’s protégé, lauded the secretary of state’s “many years of service to our community.”
“I’m about 60 years old, and for my whole lifetime he has been giving back to our community,” Burnett said. “He may be sunsetting his political career, but he thankfully will be continuing his humanitarian work.”
People receive free coats during Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s last public appearance at the Jesse White Community Center in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. White, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) and the Korean American Friendship Network gave away 500 coats and 200 socks, according to a press release. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
As temperatures plunged below freezing, volunteers doled out 500 jackets and 200 pairs of socks. The clothes were donated by Ann Jhin, CEO of Jinny Beauty Supply and a member of the Korean American Friendship Network.
White, 88, has been partnering with Jhin and the Korean American Friendship Network to hand out coats during Chicago’s harsh winters for 14 years. Jhin was also recognized for her community service, and White presented her with a personalized Illinois license plate.
Looking back on his career, White noted that he didn’t have the support of the Illinois Democratic Party when he first ran for secretary of state in 1998. But he won anyway.
“I came into an office with a lot of corruption and worked to clean up the office,” White said.
White said he’s proud of his work improving customer service and modernizing operations at driver’s license facilities, establishing the first-person consent registry for organ and tissue donations and working on roadway safety with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
White was also recognized for his role as the head coach of the Jesse White Tumblers, which he formed as a positive outlet for inner-city kids. Yvonne Jones, the program director for the tumbling team, presented a portrait of White she commissioned from local artist Nicholas Gore.
“He has given so much to the Chicago and Illinois community,” Jones said. “Of all his accomplishments, one constant since 1959 has been the Jesse White Tumbling Team. So I wanted a piece to speak to everything Mr. White has done.”
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is presented with a portrait of him as Superman during White’s last public appearance at the Jesse White Community Center in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. White, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) and the Korean American Friendship Network gave away 500 coats and 200 socks, according to a press release. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The painting shows White standing in a Superman pose, opening a button-up shirt to reveal a t-shirt with the symbol for the tumbling team.
During the event, the tumblers — of varying skill levels dressed in all-red outfits and white suspenders —performed various stunts, including round-offs into back handsprings, back flips and dive rolls.
“At every tumbling team performance, one tumbler leaps over the group. That tumbler is called Superman,” Jones said. “Well, Jesse White has been our Superman since 1959.”