Pancake breakfast raises money for Chicago police

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A pancake breakfast was held Sunday morning to support the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.

Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th Ward) hosted the event in the basement of St. John Fisher in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood. Profits benefited the foundation's "Get Behind the Vest" initiative to replace outdated bulletproof vests for officers.

"This tells me the community that I am so lucky to live in, represent really cares about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department, and they want to step up," O'Shea said.

This was the fourth annual pancake breakfast. Over the last three years, the breakfast has raised $80,000 for the initiative.

"We are committed, we've done about 8,000 vests already, and we are committed to do 500 that we think will expire in the subsequent years, and that's forever," said Frank Gross of the CPD Police Memorial Foundation.

O'Shea said his ward has the largest concentration of active and retired police officers in the city.

Officer Alex Lagunas said he was shot on the job and would not have been alive to attend the breakfast if it hadn't been for his bulletproof vest.

The foundation also encouraged people to contribute to the Paul Bauer Memorial Fund, which will support his family. Donations can be made at a Chicago Patrolmen's Federal Credit Union.

"It gives me hope that we can fix this thing, this support that the city has shown us has been quite frankly overwhelming," said CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson. "It gives me the encouragement to continue."

100 Club of Chicago collects donations for families of fallen officers at Auto Show

Visitors to the 2018 Chicago Auto Show can help the families of fallen officers and first responders.

The 100 Club of Chicago will collect donations Monday below the globe in the show's main concourse. The Auto Show is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday.

The 100 Club helps police and first-responder families in Cook and Lake Counties.