Page 38 - February 2016

Community flips over pancake breakfast to support GBTV campaign
n PHOTOS BY JAMES PINTO
It’s like this: On Feb. 21, Alder- man Matt O’Shea hosted a pan- cake breakfast at St. John Fisher Parish in Mount Greenwood to support the Chicago Police Memo-
What happens when more than 2,500 people get together on a Sunday morning to feast on more than 8,000 pancakes and 3,000 sausages?
Ministry, also conducted a special mass alongside Father Ken Budzikowski of St. John Fisher church.
The women and men of the CPD patrolling the streets
“As I was standing at the front door, I heard so many officers saying over and over how much they appreciated the commu- nity rallying in support of them,” O’Shea shared. “It was great tobeapartofit.”d
become safer.
rial Foundation’s “Get Behind The Vest” (GBTV) campaign. Since 2014, GTBV has been providing new body armor for CPD officers on patrol and in tactical units whose equipment has grown outdated and unsafe.
O’Shea’s second annual pancake breakfast has been part of a fundraising effort that has provided new vests for more than two-thirds of the 8,000 Department officers needing new pro- tection.
More than 2,500 people attended the event at St. John Fisher Parish, and the Original House of Pancakes on Western Avenue donated the more than 8,000 pancakes and 3,000 sausages that were consumed at the breakfast.
“It was unbelievable,” O’Shea exclaimed. “For five hours, it was a non-stop stream of people coming through wanting to do their part to support the men and women of the Chicago Police Department.”
At the press conference to announce the GBTV program in 2014, O’Shea, who serves on the Memorial Foundation advi- sory board, pulled Director Phil Cline aside to suggest an event that would not only raise funds but rally the community to bring awareness to supporting police. Working with Mount Greenwood schools that run everything from dress down days to bake sales, the inaugural breakfast at St. Christina Parish raised $32,000 to buy vests.
The second annual breakfast not only brought out a few hundred off-duty officers and several more who came by on their lunch break, but kids in strollers, folks in wheelchairs, nuns from the parish, and “everything in between,” said O’Shea. “We had your average Joe and elected officials.”
But this wasn’t your average pancake breakfast, Alderman O’Shea added. The Original Pancake House on Western Avenue, owned by the Harrigan family that has several police officers among its clan, donated its renowned fare. And every officer who came was given a letter St. Fisher school students wrote to express their appreciation.
Father Dan Brandt, director of the Chicago Police Chaplain’s
38 CHICAGO LODGE 7 n MARCH 2016
A Department honor guard began a special mass that was part of the event.
Alderman Matt O’Shea (left), with Chicago Police Memorial Founda- tion Board President Arthur J. Hannus, hosted the second annual pancake breakfast to support the “Get Behind The Vest” campaign.