On Saturday, March 28, 2009, Division 87 of the AOH and LAOH gave all of its members a reason to be proud.  In the course of 4 hours, these two organizations came together and raised over $10,000 for the family of slain Philadelphia police officer, John Pawlowski.  Of course, an event like this doesn’t just happen in a 4 hour period, as there are many hours and days of preparation to ensure success.  There were far too many people to single anyone out as bringing this successful event together.  It was clearly a labor of love for all of those who worked diligently behind the scenes to make this day extremely successful for a worthwhile cause.

During the day, it appeared as though Mother Nature saw the significance of what we were doing, as the rain stopped hours before we began and didn’t start back up until a couple hours after we finished.  We used both floors of the club, as well as the patio.  Out on the patio was the Irish band, The Shanties, who played several sets to the appreciative crowd.  In the Kevin Donnelly Hall (2nd floor), there were tables loaded with food, much of it donated by local restaurants, and 2 fantastic cakes showing Officer Pawlowski’s badge number. There were t-shirts for sale, listing the names of all the police officers that have fallen in the line of duty over the past 3 years.  The sales of these shirts are donated to families of fallen heroes, as well as organizations who support those families. 

In Binlids (1st floor), there was a Chinese Auction featuring many of the wonderful gifts that were donated, including a gas grill, a wine cooler, a beer dispenser, Flyers and Phillies tickets, a table saw and much more.  There were so many gifts offered at the auction, that they took up the entire shuffleboard table, as well as the floor space in the back of the bar.

This event is just one of the many events throughout the year which the AOH and LAOH hold to raise money or otherwise support the people and organizations in our community.  Saturday was a good day to be a Hibernian and see all of our brothers and sisters come together in our motto of “Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity.”

 Click here to see the photos from this event.