Get Behind The Vest Pancake Breakfast Returns Sunday After Hiatus

CHICAGO – For the first time in two years, Ald. Matt O’Shea’s Get Behind The Vest Pancake Breakfast will be held in person this Sunday, Feb. 19. The flapjacks will be flipping from 8 a.m. to noon at St. John Fisher’s Kane Hall, 10200 S. Washtenaw Ave., Chicago.

Now in its ninth year, the pancake breakfast has raised over $500,000 for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation to replace bullet resistant vests for Chicago police officers. The vests need to be replaced every five years, at a cost of about $600 each. To date, the CPMF has replaced more than 11,000 vests, with an annual goal to replace 500 vests for officers each year.

O’Shea said it is imperative the Chicago police officers have access to up-to-date bullet proof vests with the latest technology advancements. The funds raised through the Get Behind The Vest Pancake Breakfast and the WGN Vest-A-Thon this Saturday supports the CPMF initiative.

“Chicago police officers are on the front lines every day to ensure our safety. It is important that we do what we can to send them home safely to their families at the end of each shift,” O’Shea said. “In 2014, Chicago police officers were shot at a total of eight times, and none were struck by gunfire. Compare that to 2021, where 69 officers were shot at, 10 were struck by gunfire, and two were fatally shot. In 2022, Chicago police officers were shot at 48 times, and eight were struck by gunfire.”

The morning will kick-off with a Mass for police officers, their families, and supporters, at 8 a.m. at St. John Fisher Church.

Admission to the Pancake Breakfast is $5 per person or $25 for families, which includes all-you can-eat Original Pancake House-Beverly pancakes, and sausage.

O’Shea sits on the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation Advisory Board and the Chicago Police Chaplains Ministry Board of Directors. He represents the communities of Beverly Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood, where thousands of first responders reside.

The Get Behind the Vest Pancake Breakfast is generously co-hosted by Saint John Fisher Parish, the Harrigan Family and the Original Pancake House-Beverly.

For more information on Alderman Matt O’Shea’s Pancake Breakfast, benefiting the Get Behind the Vest initiative, or to support this great cause, please call 773-238-8766 or visit www.the19thward.com