Friday, May 21, 2010 - For five early morning hours, patrons of the Hawthorn Hills Shopping Center were greeted by Vernon Hills Police Officers sitting near the roof of Dunkin Donuts in order to raise money and awareness for the Special Olympics of Illinois (SOIL). Those donating money for the cause received a coupon for a free doughnut or coffee.

Actually, we decided to use a bucket truck from our Public Works Department, since the design of the building wouldn't have given us much room to see the patrons from the roof like we planned. Nonetheless, $825 was raised through people's generous donations; we were truely amazed at the amount of people willing to donate to this cause. 

VHPD personnel on scene for the fund-raiser included Officers Jeff Cielak, Shannon Holubetz, Sharon Joseph, and Jim Levicki, as well as Police Explorers Paul Davies and Monico Chavez. A special thanks goes out to Matt Bartlett of PW and of course, Dunkin Donuts. See the below pictures for the day's highlights.

The program is the second out of three main efforts by the Department to raise money for the SOIL. On March 1, 2010, nine officers jumped into the icy cold waters of Lake Michigan as part of the Polar Plunge, where over $1,850 in donations were collected. The third event took place on June 6th, when officers collected pledges to run a three-mile leg through Vernon Hills in the Torch Run for the Special Olympics.

For more information regarding the Department's SOIL efforts, contact Sgt. Jim Levicki at 847-362-4434.