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Youngsters deliver homemade PPE to CPD Supt. David Brown

“Thank you so much for being here and sharing your innovations and public service with us,” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said. “What you are doing for us is saving lives.”

By  Sam Charles
   
SHARE Youngsters deliver homemade PPE to CPD Supt. David Brown
(From left) Sisters Arianna, Sariah and Alessandra Stagen demonstrate how they made a batch of homemade hand sanitizer to donate to the Chicago Police Department during a press conference with Supt. David Brown at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

(From left) Sisters Arianna, Sariah and Alessandra Stagen demonstrate how they made a batch of homemade hand sanitizer to donate to the Chicago Police Department during a news conference with Supt. David Brown at CPD headquarters Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

New Chicago Police Supt. David Brown offered his gratitude Wednesday to four children who crafted and donated personal protective equipment for police officers.

“Thank you so much for being here and sharing your innovations and public service with us,” Brown said. “What you are doing for us is saving lives.”

“We should get you on ‘Shark Tank,’ and have you pitch other ideas you might have.”

Sariah Stagen, 9, and her sisters, 7-year-old twins Arianna and Alessandra, met the superintendent Wednesday at police headquarters. The girls, who live with their parents in Humboldt Park, brought with them a batch of homemade hand sanitizer and gave Brown a demonstration of how they made it.

James Stagen, the girls’ father, is a Chicago police officer assigned to the Shakespeare District on the Northwest Side.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown wears a plastic strip designed to lessen irritation brought on by face masks — hand made and donated by 10-year-old Giovanni Alonzo — during a press conference at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown wears a plastic strip designed to lessen irritation brought on by face masks — hand made and donated by 10-year-old Giovanni Alonzo — during a news conference at CPD headquarters Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Giovanni Alonzo, 10, crafted plastic strips designed to lessen irritation around officers’ ears that can be brought on by constantly wearing protective masks. Engraved in the strips was the phrase “Hero At Work.”

Alonzo, whose family lives in Garfield Ridge, also gave Brown a handmade card to thank first responders for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Tuesday, more than 400 employees of Chicago Police Department had tested positive for COVID-19 and three officers have died of the virus.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown gives 10-year-old Giovanni Alonzo a backpack for donating plastic strips designed to lessen irritation brought on by face masks to the department, during a press conference at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown gives 10-year-old Giovanni Alonzo a backpack for donating plastic strips designed to lessen irritation brought on by face masks to the department during a news conference at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown shows off a card made by 10-year-old Giovanni Alonzo during a press conference at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown shows off a card made by 10-year-old Giovanni Alonzo during a news conference at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Arianna Stagen, 7, of Humboldt Park, demonstrates with her sisters how they made a batch of homemade hand sanitizer to donate to the Chicago Police Department during a press conference with Supt. David Brown at CPD headquarters, Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Arianna Stagen, 7, of Humboldt Park, demonstrates with her sisters how they made a batch of homemade hand sanitizer to donate to the Chicago Police Department during a news conference with Supt. David Brown at CPD headquarters Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2020.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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