Dr. Willie Wilson, the Chicago businessman and former mayoral and presidential candidate, was at Corinthian Temple COGIC, 4520 W. Washington Blvd., on Jan. 21 to hand out $5,000 to the church and roughly 100 checks of $50 each to parishioners. 

“My wife and I donated $200,000 this past Monday and we got another $100,000 from the governor,” Wilson said. “We’re going to give away all of that money. This past week we were able to help about 1,300 to 1,400 people pay gas bills and property taxes, too. We’ve been doing this for the last year or two. We do this to give back to our community.” 

Wilson said he and his wife also give roughly $1 million each year to churches in the city. Rev. David Todd Whittley, Corinthian Temple’s pastor, said that the money will go toward helping senior citizens in the church and community. 

“The Bible says it’s better to give than to receive,” Whittley said. “Dr. Wilson is following the spiritual principal of how to be blessed. He sees a need and he’s willing to support it financially. That’s why I’m standing with him, because he’s willing to come and be a blessing.” 

Wilson, who has produced the half-hour Gospel music show, “Singsation!,” for nearly 20 years, was accompanied by his band. 

“This is just a free community concert and free dinner that was sponsored by Dr. Wilson’s Foundation and Jackson Action Coalition,” said Marseil Jackson, the coalition’s founder and a member of Corinthian Temple who helped organize Sunday’s event. 

Wilson also gave a $2,000 donation to the Talk to Me Foundation, an organization that works with incarcerated mothers. 

“We deal with incarcerated mothers in jails to make sure that they’re being treated fairly,” said George “Jody” Bady, the founder of the Stop the Violence campaign. He said Talk to Me is a component of that organization that was founded by Nicole Davis. 

“We want to make sure that these mothers get their bonds, their medical needs and that they stay in tune with their children,” Bady said. 

Wilson is reportedly considering another mayoral campaign in 2019. A poll commissioned last year by Wilson supporters and conducted by Victory Research showed around 37 percent of Chicago voters approving of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s job performance, with roughly 60 percent responding that the mayor didn’t deserve to be elected.

The poll has Dr. Willie Wilson, a Chicago businessman, within fewer than 10 points of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a head-to-head matchup.

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