A set of T-shirts will be transformed into bulletproof vests to help protect Chicago police officers, thanks to an area resident’s labor of love.
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Jean Ricker, a longtime resident of Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood, created quilts made from police-themed shirts and is donating one to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation to be raffled off to help the organization purchase protective vests for officers.
“Because of my family members and the police, what they have to go through,” Ricker said.
The quilt will be raffled at the Get Behind the Vest Pancake Breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 19 at St. John Fisher’s Kane Hall, 10100 S. Washtenaw Ave.
Ricker learned how to make quilts from T-shirts through a Chicago Park District sewing class, and “it snowballed after that.” she said, noting she’s made roughly 53 quilts.
It has turned into a labor of love for Ricker, who said she gets as much as she gives by donating them to important causes or giving them to friends and family.
“It’s so meaningful to the people I’m making them for, and that gives me a lot of satisfaction,” Ricker said. “I’ve had some people cry when I give them the quilt because they’re seeing their memories like that.”
The community jumped on board when they found out about her latest project.
“Police would walk by and I would say, ‘that’s a cool T-shirt, would you consider donating that?” Ricker said. “I would come home, go out and there would be a T-shirt hanging on my fence or on my doorknob. Police thought this was such a great cause.”
Ricker’s son also helps, utilizing his eye for color and helping her order material online, Ricker said. She’s given him quilts, too.
Another big fan of the quilts is Chicago 19th Ward Ald. Matt O’Shea, who organizes the annual pancake breakfast.
“I think what is already an incredibly special day in our community is that much more special and personal to have such a beautiful handmade quilt to be raffled off to raise additional dollars,” O’Shea said. “It goes to show what the very fabric is of our community — people like Jean Ricker, who put her heart and soul into this. Any time there’s a cause and need, Jean, over the years, is one of the first to say ‘I’ll help out.'”
Ricker was a gym teacher for Chicago Public Schools and then an infant and preschool swim teacher for the Chicago Park District, before retiring. She taught O’Shea to swim in the 1970s.
“She’s got a heart of gold,” said O’Shea. “She’s the best.”
More information on the quilt raffle and the Behind the Vest breakfast is at 773-238-8766 or www.the19thward.com.
It’s a way, O’Shea said, to show police officers they are valued.
“We’re raising dollars to protect those who protect us but also we’re showing police officers and their families that the community truly cares, that we support them and in fact we do have their back,” he said.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.