Dunkin' Donuts Donates $5K To New Lenox Mayor's Assistance Fund

NEW LENOX, IL - Last summer, Patch published an incredibly popular story on how New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann decided to donate his entire mayoral salary for the remainder of his term. Baldermann established the Mayor's Assistance Program to help New Lenox residents down on their luck. Last week, the village received a major donation from Amin Panjwani, who runs several of the Dunkin' Donuts in New Lenox.

Panjwani was recognized at last week's New Lenox Village Board meeting for his kind-hearted gesture.

"Amin called and said 'I want to make a personal $5,000 donation to the Mayor's Assistance Program.' I asked if he just wanted to donate that to my salary," Baldermann told everyone at last week's board meeting, drawing a chorus of laughs.

Baldermann told everyone he was extremely grateful for the donation because it will go a long way toward helping several New Lenox residents who are facing hard times and need a hand me up at this particular juncture in their lives.

"(Amin) didn't have to do that. He just wanted to do it. I'm sure he doesn't want to be here tonight because he doesn't do it for the recognition," Baldermann remarked during the meeting.

"I kind of shamed him into coming tonight."

Panjwani approached the podium and accepted the plaque of gratitude from the mayor.

He joked that he decided to come to the meeting because "I was afraid you would close down our business if I didn't show up."

The Panjwani family operates a Dunkin' Donuts at the Walmart store, at a location on Laraway Road and a new Dunkin' Donuts is now under construction adjacent to the New Lenox fire station along Route 30.

"Our business does not thrive in this community without the community," Panjwani told the village board. "So, if all we can do is lend a helping hand, that's the least we can do, because without the community our business doesn't survive. So, thank you to the village, thank you to the community, and I hope that we can do more of these things going forward because we want to see people thrive, and we want to see people do better and we should give back, especially for the ones that we can."

Panjwani received a round of applause from village officials and the audience.

Then Mayor Baldermann spoke up in his typical dry sense of humor.

"We would have shut down your business if you didn't come, but you don't have to stay now," Baldermann said, drawing laughs from everyone.

On a serious note, Mayor Baldermann remarked during the meeting, "The Panjwani family has always, always, been very good to New Lenox ... We have great people in the town. That's why New Lenox thrives. You're going to help a lot of people out with this. I really appreciate it."

RELATED: New Lenox Mayor To Donate Salary To Those In Need

Image via village of New Lenox, image of Dunkin' Donuts via Vernon Patch