Chicago gas station helping raise funds with every fill-up to buy bulletproof vests for CPD officers
A fundraiser this week on the Southwest Side helped people chip in to help make sure Chicago police officers are protected while on patrol.
On a chilly afternoon in Mount Greenwood, at one of the few full-service gas stations in Chicago, attendants braved bitter cold temperatures for Get Behind The Vest, a program to make sure every CPD officer has an updated bulletproof vest.
"They identified that police officers, they're raising a family, they're paying a mortgage, maybe they're paying tuitions for their children. They're not replacing the vests. It's about $500 dollars on the low end. Some of them, like for SWAT officers, go for $2,500," said Ald. Matt O'Shea, who hosts regular fundraisers for Get Behind The vest.
While the Chicago Police Department supplies bulletproof vests to officers when they first join the force, they need to be replaced on average every five years, and officers must pay for replacement vests.
The Behind the Vest campaign organized by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation allows officers to replace their bulletproof vests for free.
The Shell station at 111th and Talman donated 5 cents from every gallon of gas to Get Behind the Vest this week. Two other businesses – Beverly Bank & Trust and AthleteX – also jumped in with matching funds, so 15 cents per every gallon for the entire week goes toward buying bulletproof vests for officers.
Many drivers who filled up at the Shell station loved the idea they're helping out just by getting gas.
"One hundred percent support CPD. They need it, especially what's going on in this neighborhood and all neighborhoods in Chicago," one woman said.
"Over the years, we've raised thousands and thousands of additional dollars to purchase vests to protect our officers based on this feel-good campaign," said O'Shea, who represents the Beverly, Morgan Park, and Mount Greenwood communities, where many CPD officers and their families live.
The alderman joined the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation in helping gas attendants at the Mount Greenwood Shell station to drum up even more support.
"I gotta tell you, people drive up and they write a check. Last year a gentleman, he wrote a $500 check to purchase a check to protect a police officer," O'Shea said.
If you can't get the gas station for the fundraiser, Sunday is the campaign's main event, as O'Shea hosts his 11th annual pancake breakfast for Get Behind the Vest. Hundreds will pack St. John Fisher School at 102nd and Washtenaw for fellowship with food and officers.
"We think it's so important that police officers and their families attend come to attend so they can see firsthand and up close how much people really care," O'Shea said.
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