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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
| 3 | to learn of the death of Lori F. Cannon of Chicago, who passed | ||||||
| 4 | away on August 3, 2025; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Lori Cannon dedicated her life to serving the | ||||||
| 6 | LGBTQ+ community and fighting against the HIV/AIDS epidemic; | ||||||
| 7 | she became one of the earliest volunteers for Chicago House, | ||||||
| 8 | the first local agency to provide housing for people with | ||||||
| 9 | HIV/AIDS; she attended the National March on Washington for | ||||||
| 10 | Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987, where she encountered the | ||||||
| 11 | NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and became involved with the | ||||||
| 12 | organization, helping launch the NAMES Project Chicago Chapter | ||||||
| 13 | and bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt to Chicago in 1988, 1990, | ||||||
| 14 | and 1994; and | ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, Lori Cannon co-founded the AIDS Coalition to | ||||||
| 16 | Unleash Power (ACT UP) Chicago, a grassroots protest group | ||||||
| 17 | created to demand better care and treatment of HIV/AIDS | ||||||
| 18 | patients, in 1988; that same year, she utilized her | ||||||
| 19 | professional driving expertise as a founding board member for | ||||||
| 20 | Open Hand Chicago, a meals-on-wheels program for people with | ||||||
| 21 | HIV/AIDS, which later developed into the Groceryland pantry | ||||||
| 22 | network; she also founded the Chicago-based Legacy Project, | ||||||
| 23 | honoring LGBTQ+ contributions to world history and culture, in | ||||||
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| 1 | 2010; she further served the community as a volunteer with | ||||||
| 2 | AIDS Legal Counsel of Chicago, STOP AIDS Chicago, Howard Brown | ||||||
| 3 | Health, AIDS Walk Chicago, and the AIDS care unit at Advocate | ||||||
| 4 | Illinois Masonic Medical Center; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Lori Cannon's efforts to establish the Open Hand | ||||||
| 6 | Meals-on-Wheels program and the GroceryLand network of food | ||||||
| 7 | pantries for HIV/AIDS patients, which earned her an induction | ||||||
| 8 | into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 1994, have resulted in | ||||||
| 9 | the distribution and preparation of nearly 20,000,000 meals | ||||||
| 10 | over the past 37 years; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, Lori Cannon, better known as "Chicago's AIDS | ||||||
| 12 | angel", was a natural caretaker who was unrelenting in her | ||||||
| 13 | commitment to the well-being of others and driven in her fight | ||||||
| 14 | for justice; her legacy of radical care and fearless action | ||||||
| 15 | will live on in the community that she supported and loved so | ||||||
| 16 | much; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 17 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 18 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 19 | Lori F. Cannon and extend our sincere condolences to her | ||||||
| 20 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it | ||||||
| 21 | further | ||||||
| 22 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
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| 1 | presented to the family of Lori Cannon as an expression of our | ||||||
| 2 | deepest sympathy. | ||||||