- Credibility:
CHICAGO — About 8-1/2 miles of King Drive are now decorated for the holidays thanks to hundreds of volunteers.
My Block, My Hood, My City organized the project, with founder Jahmal Cole putting out a call for people to donate lights, garland and decorations so King Drive could sparkle like the Mag Mile for the holidays. Hundreds of donations poured in, in a matter of weeks.
“To me the impact, the worldwide impact this has had in the last two weeks, has been phenomenal. There’s been people from all over the country that have been donating,” Cole said. “People from all over the country and the city have come together to help hang on the lights.”
The project ended up covering 8 1/2 miles of the street with 100 homes and 400 poles decorated, too, Cole wrote in a post on Instagram. About 300 volunteers helped put up the lights and decorations during several days.
There were too many lights to count, Cole wrote, as well as 3,600 feet of garland and 800 ribbons put up.
But not all of the project was completed, Cole wrote on Instagram, meaning there are still stretches of King Drive that couldn’t be decorated. He hopes to change that next year.
The group didn’t gather enough decorations for the massive project and he had to pay for part of it, so My Block, My Hood, My City is collecting donations to cover those costs.
Any extra decorations donated this year will be used to light up King Drive next year, Cole said.
“This effort will grow,” Cole wrote on Instagram. “I wholeheartedly believe it, and I hope my belief becomes yours and the city’s, as well.”
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