Blue Island on $5.00 a day

I recently read the following challenge at a Main Street Blue Island board meeting, and it was suggested that I send it to the Forum to also challenge our residents.
"I would like to start by reading the Main Street mission statement:
Main Street Blue Island is a volunteer based not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening downtown businesses, creating an inviting physical environment, and attracting residents and visitors to historic downtown Blue Island.
I feel that we have done an excellent job creating an inviting physical environment; we have the planters and we have people who constantly work on façades and signage. The Pro-Am bike race and the Christmas Light Parade are proof that we are putting forth a tremendous effort in attracting residents and visitors to the historic downtown. It is the first mandate where we seem to be lacking. We are to be "dedicated to strengthening downtown businesses."
I recently spoke to a business owner who told me that their total receipts for the month of July so far are $78.00. How much longer can they remain open? Soon there will be another vacant store front on Western Avenue. Is this what we’re working for? What can we do? We are to be "dedicated to strengthening downtown businesses."
I have an idea to help revitalize the downtown business district. This idea does not involve any additional meetings, we do not need a committee, and we do not need a fundraiser, a permit, or approval from anyone.
Ask yourself "How much money do I spend each day?" Now ask yourself "How much of that do I spend on Western Avenue?"
I challenge each of us to spend an average of $5.00 a day in the downtown area. Take $5.00 and visit a business that you think has nothing you want. Introduce yourself and buy something you can use; a chocolate bar, a bar of soap, a can of tuna, salt & pepper shakers, a cold beer, a belt, a purse, a tire gauge.
There are 19 board members, a director, and a secretary here at Main Street. If we each made a commitment to do this we would be investing $105.00 a day, $735.00 a week, $3160.00 a month. By the end of the year we would have invested $15,800.00 towards strengthening downtown businesses.
Many of the businesses I talk to feel that when they give money to Main Street there is little or no return on their investment. What would the return on our investment be? I can only speak from personal experience. I’ve met new people that I would not otherwise have met. I’ve gotten a few hugs. I’ve eaten better peaches than I could find at the major grocery stores. I have a candle, a bar of soap, and salt & pepper shakers. I’ve had a few cold beers and a sausage sandwich. I have a new purse and a new hair cut. I also have a better understanding of what is happening in our business district."
I would like to add the following, addressed to residents of our fair city:
I frequently talk to people who speak poetically of the old days when Klein’s was here, Tots and Teens, the Mayfair, and other stores, and restaurants that they loved. I’m actually old enough to remember when. Some of these places may have closed because the owners retired, or moved; but the biggest reason that businesses close is that the neighborhood does not support them. And so, I challenge each of us to spend an average of $5.00 a day at a Blue Island business. Visit places you’ve never been in. Introduce yourself. This is how a sense of community is formed. This is how a thriving downtown is formed.
If I may, allow me to do the math once more, based on our population. Approximately 10,000 adults live here. At $5.00 a day, that would be $50,000.00 a day, $350,000.00 a week, $1,500,000.00 a month, and $7,500,000.00 by the end of this year. That type of investment would be huge. The city would be thriving. Most anything you need is available here, and if it’s not, I can guarantee that some shop owner will get it for you. Let me ask you this; where do you spend your money?