BEVERLY — Chicago Police Officer Darren Ohle of Beverly knows his three children and their classmates at St. Barnabas School have his back.
Ohle, a patrolman in the Chicago Lawn Police District, arrived at the elementary school at 10121 S. Longwood Drive in Beverly in full uniform on Wednesday morning.
A group of students, including his children, Liam, 14, Catherine, 11, and Margaret, 9, greeted him and fellow officers with a check for $2,110. The donation was made out to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
The 532 students at St. Barnabas held a pair of fundraisers for the foundation's “Get Behind the Vest” initiative. The effort aims to replace an estimated 8,000 outdated bulletproof vests currently in use by the Chicago Police Department.
"I think the kids really got into it," said Maureen Gainer-Ohle, Darren's wife.
She helped a team of volunteers sell Chicago Police Memorial Foundation merchandise in the vestibule after a special Mass for first responders on Feb. 1 at St. Barnabas.
Those proceeds along with $2 raised from each student who wanted to dress out of his or her required uniform on two separate occasions both contributed to the effort.
Gainer-Ohl credited the First Responder mass to Kitty Ryan, Pastoral Associate/Director of Music and Liturgy. "She did an amazing job," said Gainer-Ohl.
The check presentation comes on the heels of a pancake breakfast hosted by Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) on Feb. 22. This fundraiser netted just under $10,000 for the Get Behind the Vest initiative.
Howard Ludwig discusses the event:
Other schools on the Southwest Side have also offered their support with a series of "dress-down" days, including Brother Rice High School and elementary schools such as St. Cajetan, Christ the King, Sutherland, Cassell, Queen of Martyrs, Saint Christina, Keller and St. John Fisher.
John Gordon, project manager for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, said support from within the 19th Ward has been heartwarming.
"I think a lot of these guys [Chicago police] reside in this neighborhood," Gordon said. "They are the frontline of defense, and they [friends and neighbors] want to see these guys protected."
Full-time police officers receive an annual $1,800 uniform stipend to cover the cost of everything from uniforms, socks, ties, bullets, guns and vests, Gordon said.
But officers often put off buying new vests because of the $500 price tag. It's recommended that bulletproof vests be replaced every 5-10 years.
The Chicago-based police foundation hopes to raise $4 million to replace the outdated vests. Fundraising efforts began in late September and have already brought in about $1.5 million, Gordon said.
Elaine Gaffney, principal at St. Barnabas, said the Get Behind the Vest initiative really resonated throughout the hallways and had proved to be eye opening for many teachers and staff.
"It was also awareness raising. For many of us, we were like, 'What do you mean police officers have to buy their own vests?'" Gaffney said.
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