Carrying the torch
Tinley Park police department regularly ranks near the top in Special Olympics fundraiser
More than 300 police departments and other law enforcement agencies across the state participate in the Law Enforcement Torch Run to raise money for Special Olympics Illinois.
One department ranked second in the state in funds raised via the Torch Run last year and topped all others in 2016 and 2017, and it wasn’t the state police, Cook County sheriff’s police; the Chicago, Peoria or Rockford police departments.
Rather, it was the Tinley Park Police Department, which raised nearly $116,000 last year, according to Jim Fitzpatrick, senior director of development for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics of Illinois.
“For Tinley Park to come up with that amount is really incredible,” Fitzpatrick said. “The amount of work those officers do is tremendous. For what they do for our athletes, we’re very fortunate to have them. They’re all volunteers and can walk away anytime.”
Only the Illinois Department of Corrections surpassed Tinley Park police in dollars raised through the Torch Run last year, Fitzpatrick noted. “They have so many more facilities and bodies that they are tough to catch.”
“You have a dedicated group of officers who devote their spare time,” Fitzpatrick said of the local cadre. “To have them be so dedicated to this cause is a testament to them. They’re a great group of people; they’re family.”
Fitzpatrick credited Tinley Park police investigations Sgt. William Devine as a driving force behind the department’s efforts on behalf of Special Olympics Illinois.
The nonprofit organization provides year-round training and competition in 18 sports for more than 23,000 athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities and more than 17,000 young athletes ages 2-7.
Sgt. Devine has participated in the Torch Run for 22 of his 25 years with the department, he said. He became heavily involved 12 years ago after the birth of his son C.J., who has Down syndrome.
Now in eighth grade, C.J. was 2 when his dad started him in the Special Olympics Young Athletes program. Playing soccer and competing in track and field, he has won two gold medals in the state summer games — in the 50-meter run and shot put — and nearly 30 medals in regional contests.
“He loves them,” Devine said of C.J.’s meets. “Every event that he goes to, he thoroughly enjoys competing and being around other athletes. And loves winning medals.”
Devine and his colleagues run the annual fundraising events that generate Tinley Park’s portion of the $5.3 million that the Torch Run took in last year. The Torch Run is the largest fundraising arm for Special Olympics
Illinois.
The relay, in which about 3,000 officers carry the Flame of Hope nearly 1,500 miles to ignite the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics Illinois Summer Games in early June, is only one of several Torch Run events held year-round.
Fundraising events include Polar Plunges, Dunkin’ Cop on Rooftop, the Texas Roadhouse Benefit Lunch and Truck Convoy.
Sprinting into the frigid shallows of Lake Michigan last month, Devine was among five Tinley Park officers to endure the Super Polar Plunge. That feat meant entering the icy water once an hour for 24 hours, warming up in between plunges in a heated tent on the beach near Northwestern University in Evanston.
“It’s definitely cold,” said Devine who has braved the super plunge for 11 years in a row. “The water temperature was between 35 and 37 degrees. It feels like needles in your skin.
“I’ve done it in weather in the teens. You come out of the water and your skin almost freezes. It’s not frost bite, but my legs look like lizards. It feels like a burn. If you don’t put lotion on your skin, it feels like sunburn.”
Merely wading in the bitterly cold lake is not good enough for Devine. “For me, it’s a polar plunge, so I have to go underwater. It’s a lot of fun and a
challenge. It’s my favorite event.”
In warmer weather, officers take the field in May for the Bats and Badges softball tournament. The Dunkin’ Cop on Top will be held on May 15 this year at the three Dunkin’ Donut shops in the village.
The Tinley Park group also takes part in an auto race called the Five-0 at the Dirty 0. The 15-lap contest among drivers of about 27 old squad cars is held during a demolition derby day at the Route 66 Dirt Oval in Joliet, Devine said. “There have been crashes, but no injuries,” he added. “The village donated our squad car,” an old Ford Crown Victoria.
The annual Truck Convoy, including 18-wheeler semis, dump trucks, cement trucks and others, ends in the parking lot of the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. About 90 truckers participated last October.
This year’s comedy night at Odyssey Country Club is planned for March 27.
Devine credits the community’s support for Tinley Park’s Torch Run success story.
“We have a great partnership with a lot of local businesses who provide continuous support to our program, as well as a group of dedicated officers who believe in the program,” he said.
It all leads up to the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Illinois on June 7-12. Orland Park police runners will pass the torch to Tinley Park’s finest at 167th Street and 80th Avenue, Devine said. The Tinley Park team will take it from there, carrying it three miles to hand it off to FBI Chicago at Tinley Park High School.
Tinley Park belongs to Leg 9 of the Torch Run, which consists of 23 different legs, or routes, to the run’s destination – the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics Illinois Summer Games on June 12 at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal. About 4,000 athletes of all ages are expected to compete.
Leg 9 comprises 35 south suburbs, including Homewood, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Matteson, Sauk Village, Blue Island, Calumet Park, Riverdale and Beecher, said Tinley Park police Officer Dennis Reilly, Leg 9 coordinator.
Reilly, like Sgt. Devine, said the community is responsible for the Police Department’s Torch Run largesse. “Tinley Park businesses and our residents are very generous and caring people who make a difference in the lives of Special Olympics athletes,” he said.
Reilly has participated in the Torch Run for nearly 30 years, six of them at Tinley Park after retiring as a Riverdale police officer. “Over my years of being a part of the Torch Run, I’ve learned so much from the athletes about kindness, fairness, and treating others with respect,” he said.
“It’s humbling because they’re great people and all they want is to be treated fairly. These athletes just want a fair shake and be treated equally. We, as a society, can learn a lot more from them and their outlook about life itself.”
Jack Murray is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.