Service Together Achieves Results (STAR) is the official brand for civic involvement started by the Neighborhood Service Coordination Division to promote and encourage citizen participation and engagement. These are both key indicators of healthy neighborhoods, and foundational goals of the Neighborhood Services Department which encourage residents and stakeholders to take an active role in the civic matters of their neighborhoods.
Started in 2010 as the STAR Awards, the STAR brand was created to honor and recognize exemplary citizen engagement efforts. The program evolved to include STAR Service Days, to promote and support collaborative engagement activities to respond to neighborhood challenges; and STAR Mobile Tool Lending Library, developed to provide tools, and supplies needed to implement cleanup or service projects. Each program component is designed to support and reinforce Departmental and City goals which underscore the City of Champaign’s commitment to citizen participation and engagement.
In 2018, the Neighborhood Services Department added city-wide engagement events to the STAR brand to promote civil discourse, renew partnership, and foster new relationships among Champaign residents, key community stake holders City staff, and elected officials. The first such city-wide engagement event is the 2019 STAR Longest Table held in August 2019.