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tinleyjunction.com news
the Tinley Junction | July 18, 2019 | 3
Boykin signs ND jersey for auction at local fundraiser
Jacquelyn Schlabach
Editor
Miles Boykin said he
didn’t even hesitate when
asked to take part in raising
money for GiGi’s
Playhouse in Tinley Park.
The Tinley Park native
and former Notre Dame
wide receiver was recently
drafted by the Baltimore
Ravens with the
93rd overall pick. With his
busy schedule and training
camp for the coming
NFL season, he made it a
priority to come back to
his hometown July 10 to
sign a No. 81 Notre Dame
jersey at Station No. 46 to
be auctioned at the Tinley
Park Firefighters Association
2nd Annual Charity
Golf Outing set for Thursday,
July 25.
“It’s huge; you can’t
thank him enough for taking
time out of his day and
coming and doing this. It’s
exciting,” said Lt. Mike
Wittman and vice president
of the firefighters association.
All proceeds from the
jersey, which was donated
by a sports store in South
Bend, Indiana, will go
straight to charity.
“All of that goes toward
what we’re doing,” Wittman
said. “Not a dime of it
goes to Miles. Everything
that we’re doing with this
golf outing is helping others.”
Wittman said it was a
“no brainer” to ask Boykin
if he would come back
home to Tinley to sign
the jersey for auction. He
said he has know Boykin
since he was in fifth grade
through the Tinley Park
Bulldogs football program
where he coached and was
the athletic director for six
years.
“He didn’t even hesitate;
he’s such a great young
man,” Wittman said.
Boykin said it meant
a lot to him that he was
asked to play a role in the
charity outing.
“It means a lot to me for
several reasons,” Boykin
said. “The biggest one
for me, actually, is just
because obviously this is
my hometown and I love
my hometown, I always
come back, I do what I can
whenever I’m back.”
He added that the hardest
part was just planning
when he could take time
off to come home in between
his vacation time
and training camp in Baltimore,
where he now resides.
But he said it was always
a yes to come home
to help; just a matter of
when.
“It’s because of the people;
the continuous support
that they’ve always
showed me and I just want
to be able to show how
much love I have for this
town back,” Boykin said.
“It’s kind of hard to do at
times because I’m not here
often, but I always see myself
in the papers here and
I just see continuous support
from people.”
When Boykin arrived at
Station No. 46, not only
did firefighters welcome
him with open arms, but
the family of retired Lt.
Jim Gaskill was in attendance
to meet Boykin and
thank him for coming to
support GiGi’s Playhouse,
an organization that is near
and dear to Gaskill’s heart.
His 9-year-old daughter,
Grace, has Down’s syndrome
and participates at
GiGi’s.
“It feels great,” Gaskill
said. “I don’t know what
else to say, it’s wonderful.”
Miles Boykin (center) stands with the firefighters of
Station No. 46.
Tim O’Hagan, president
of the Tinley Park
Firefighters Association,
reached out to Gaskill last
year wanting to support
him and his family any
way they could.
“He asked me last year
while they were doing
this, we’d like to have
something in support of
your family with Grace,”
Gaskill said. “So he’s like,
‘What’s local, what’s close
to your heart?’ I said Gi-
Gi’s in Tinley Park; we’ve
been there a few times, we
like it [and] love the people
who work there.”
O’Hagan helped get the
charity golf outing up and
running last year, where
they donated 30 percent
of their earnings for a total
of $1,000 to Together
We Cope in Tinley Park.
This year, they’re hoping
to exceed that and donate
40 percent to GiGi’s Playhouse.
“The motto of the fire
department is we serve
others not ourselves and
that’s something that
we always want to do,”
O’Hagan said. “The association
just wants to give
back.”
In addition to the featured
charity for the outing,
O’Hagan said they
also donate to the Ron
Winterstein Scholarship,
which was set up in
memory of Winterstein,
who was a chief for the
fire department about 20
years ago. The scholarship
is awarded to children of
firefighters. Local charities
Please see Boykin, 6
7/18/19 -7/23/19
Walt’s Certificate
FOOD
CENTERS
16039 S. Harlem Ave.
Tinley Park
Tim O’Hagan (left), president of the Tinley Park
Firefighters Association, Tinley native and Baltimore
Ravens wide receiver Miles Boykin (center) and Mike
Wittman, vice president of the Tinley Park Firefighters
Association pose with the No. 81 Notre Dame jersey
that Boykin signed July 10. The jersey is to be
auctioned at the 2nd Annual Charity Golf Outing on July
25. Photos by Jacquelyn Schlabach/22nd Century Media
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