La Grange Park police Officer Matthew Pinckney only recently completed his training at the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy and was sworn in as a probationary officer Sept. 23.
But he’s already generating some buzz in the department after Pinckney’s Jalapeno Justice Burger won first place in the department’s 5th annual Burger Bash benefit held for the Special Olympics.
“I feel great and I wasn’t expecting it,” he said after Commander Tim Griffin, the primary organizer of the event, announced the winners. “I’m honestly not a great cook, but I love the Special Olympics. It’s a very valuable program and I’m glad I got to be a part of this.”
The burgers were voted on by residents at the event. They awarded third place to Det. Nick Spurgash’s Classic Gourmet Burger and second place to last year’s winner, Officer Matthew Armenta and his Drunk and Disorderly Burger.
The event on Saturday at Posto 31, 1017 E. 31st St., is the largest of five benefits the department puts on every year, all of which raise money for Special Olympics. Additionally, all food and labor for the benefit was donated by Jason Korinek, owner of Posto 31. There was also a fundraising raffle.
While Chief Tim Contois and Deputy Chief Fran Marrocco cooked all the burgers, six officers added their own special ingredients for the finished product.
Special Olympics athlete and Global Messenger Daniel Smrokowski told the packed house how much their support meant.
“Thank you to Tim, Nick, and the La Grange Park Police Department and La Grange Park residents for your support today at the Burger Bash,” he said. “You are supporting over 18,000 Illinois Special Olympic athletes and over 4 million Special Olympics athletes across the globe like myself.”
Smrokowski said he had been a Special Olympics athlete for 20 years, competing in basketball and bocce ball.
“The minute I joined Special Olympics 20 years ago competing in swimming, my life changed for the better,” he said. “Nobody made fun of me anymore and I had a whole new group of friends and new goals to strive for. Before the Special Olympics I was coming home in tears because my school mates didn’t understand my challenges. … Special Olympics provided team involvement and a second family.”
Special Olympics Illinois CEO Peter Beale-Delvecchio stressed the importance of community togetherness coming from events like the Burger Bash.
“I’m used to introducing the athletes and it’s never easy to follow the athletes,” he joked. “He used all my good talking points. The fun family atmosphere that you have today — and Daniel alluded to this — that’s what you give to our athletes. Coming out today, being here together, in addition to sports and everything else, it’s really that community that you give to our athletes. People that, often in their lives, were told ‘you can’t do this, you shouldn’t do this, you’ll never do this,’ you are showing the world what it means to be inclusive.”
Commander Tim Griffin was happy with the community support of the event.
“It turned out very well,” he said. “I’ve heard that we cooked over 600 burgers, which is a lot. We’ve had a packed house since 11:30, and we’ve had a packed house ever since. This is probably the best turnout we’ve ever had.
“This is our cornerstone event, and it kind of solidifies our fundraising and it’s our last big event of the year,” he said. “We kind of go out with a bang.”
Griffin said that the Department’s fundraising in 2024 earned a little over $22,000, with $10,000 coming from the Burger Bash alone.
Although the numbers for this year are yet to be calculated, Griffin said “I can tell you it’s going to be another record.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.