Fulton prepares for All-America City Award competition

Through actions in the community, recognition of accomplishments, and work through city hall, Fulton has become one of 20 finalists for the All-America City Award.

Fulton will be competing against cities such as Dallas, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, and New York, New York.

Renee Tyler, director of administration for Fulton, was available to give information about preparation for the award, why Fulton was nominated for this award and expectations from this process.

"The process for us to participate was long. Along with the normal application process, we needed to find the stories from the community to help us appeal to the award committee," Tyler said.

When looking for community acts that would appeal to the award committee, they did not have a major challenge.

Tyler said the first community project they chose to highlight is the Local Lemon Project, which is ran by the Callaway Chamber of Commerce.

This project teaches young people how to run a business, encouraging them to become entrepreneurs by running a lemonade stand.

"The next project was the Fulton Area Rotary Club sponsored three families from Afghanistan, working to acclimate them in the community of Fulton," Tyler said.

This project also involves building a family of 13 a home, in cooperation with the River City Habitat for Humanity.

"Our third project we highlighted is the after-school program run by the Legends Rec-Plex," Tyler said.

Kids at this program do numerous projects and activities; the program holds an importance of children having fun together but actively learning at the same time.

"These three were highlighted and are major reasons why we are nominated to win this award. Fulton is an enriching and loving community that is growing, and this award shows that," Tyler said.

Tyler gave praise to the community as a whole as a reason for this award, expecting more than just an award to come from this.

"I expect the nomination of this award to lift Fulton in the eyes of the rest of the county with national recognition, along with igniting local pride and engagement in the community," Tyler said.

Tyler and numerous other people will represent Fulton at the competition in Denver from June 9-11.

This event will cost approximately $30,000 to attend, with $20,000 raised through numerous donations throughout the community.