The Pillar Award is given to an individual who has shown generous and ongoing support to the Peoria Notre Dame community by sharing their time, talent, and treasure. The recipient could be a parent, alumni, former faculty, or anyone in the community that has given themselves over the years to support the school.
Mitch Gilfillan
The Pillar Award honors a supporter of Peoria Notre Dame through consistent dedication to the mission of the school, and Mitch Gilfillan has continued to offer his time, talent and treasure for the betterment of the institution.
Mitch attended Blessed Sacrament Grade School. At Peoria Notre Dame, Mitch was a member of the National Honor Society and was a Student Ambassador. He was also an altar server and received special recognition for doing 150 hours of community service during high school. Mitch is an accomplished athlete, named all-state in both soccer and basketball and all conference in baseball. He was the first ever student-athlete from PND to earn a full Division I basketball scholarship and played in the 2004 NCAA March Madness tournament for Lehigh University.
As a lawyer for the Quinn Johnston law firm, Mitch represents clients in all facets, but uniquely serves in the sports arena representing collegiate coaches and athletic directors. Mitch is on the Peoria County Bar Association Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois Board of Directors and the Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service and is the current President of the Pediatric Resource Center.
Mitch has earned numerous accolades including being named a 40 Under 40 leader. He is actively involved at Peoria Notre Dame and St. Philomena Grade School where his daughters Harper and Hadley attend. In addition to serving on the PND Golf Classic committee, Mitch will be chairing the 5 year strategic planning committee for PND throughout the 2021-2022 school year.