Media are invited to attend a send-off party for Team Wichita as it departs to compete for the prestigious All-America City (AAC) title this week in Tampa Bay. The send-off party is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the main lobby at Wichita Mid-Continental Airport.

Team Wichita will compete against 29 other AAC finalist cities Wednesday through Friday. Ten cities will be named All-America City winner based on three local projects featured in a pre-conference application packet and conference competition featuring a 10-minute presentation, followed by a question-and-answer segment.

Winning the All-America City Award can boost a community’s sense of civic pride. All-America City winners and finalists also experience heightened national attention, which helps in the recruitment of industry, jobs and investment to an area. All-America City finalists teach and inspire communities throughout the nation who are facing difficult challenges and seeking innovative and collaborative ways to overcome them.

The Wichita team, led by Mayor Carl Brewer and Councilwoman Lavonta Williams, has been preparing and rehearsing for the competition since March, when Wichita was named an All-America City finalist. The City’s 10-minute presentation features a skit titled “City or No City,” a parody of the popular game show “Deal or No Deal.” Wichita’s presentation is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 18. Winners will be announced on June 19.

The city’s three featured projects are 1) Opportunity Drive, a multipurpose learning and recreation campus - which includes The Opportunity Project, a preschool program and the Gordon Parks Academy, a kindergarten through eighth grade public school; 2) Visioneering Wichita, a regional planning initiative and 3) Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services, which aims to build affordable homes for low-income families. Team Wichita is comprised of 30 people, representing the featured projects, local government and other stakeholders. Wichita previously claimed the AAC honor in 1961, 1993 and 1999.

The AAC trip will be funded through the generosity of several local organizations and donors who are listed below:

• Barry Downing
• Spirit AeroSystems
• Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce
• AT&T
• MKEC Engineering
• Professional Engineering Consultants
• The Coleman Company
• Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services
• Intrust Bank
• Schaefer, Johnson, Cox & Frey Architecture
• Slawson Real Estate
• Cessna Aircraft Company

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