09/25/2026
Congratulations to Christina for winning the Distinguished Service Award at the Champaign Park District Board Meeting this week! 💚
The Distinguished Service Award acknowledges staff who have gone above and beyond to care for others during their professional and personal lives.
When out to dinner recently, Christina Mott, CUSR Manager, noticed a patron at a neighboring table was exhibiting signs of stress. These symptoms rapidly developed into a seizure. While other restaurant staff and patrons froze and panicked, Christina calmly left her table, appropriately assisted the person in need, and guided the restaurant staff to call emergency services (EMS). When EMS arrived, Christina’s accurate reporting of the situation and events guided EMS about the circumstances of the person in need. Over time, the circumstances improved and eventually, despite EMS encouragement, the patron refused ambulance services, and EMS left. Christina assisted the individual with personal care, an empathetic ear, support to reach their vehicle, and assurance they were able to safely drive to their next destination.
Many of these qualities come naturally to Christina: empathy, compassion, and a calm, knowledgeable response in stressful situations, but her reactions and actions were also cultivated through a history of education and action related to her everyday work with the Park District and Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation. She makes a difference in programs and the greater community through these actions and abilities on a daily basis.
