Lottery Partners with Retailers to Honor the Blue Police Memorial Ticket Launch
In honor of the launch of the Illinois Lottery’s Blue Police Memorial instant ticket, the Lottery is partnering with select retailers to thank first responders who are hard at work keeping the people of Illinois safe during the ongoing global health crisis.
As a token of gratitude, from May 5th to May 31st, healthcare workers, EMTs, firefighters, and police officers can receive a free coffee or $1 off a pastry by showing their badge at participating retailers. Free coffee will be available at local FasMart, Village Pantry, and Jiffi Stop locations throughout the state, and at 36 participating Chicagoland Jewel locations first responders can receive $1 off any pastry.
A full list of participating retailers can be found here.
“Our police officers, healthcare workers, EMTs, and firefighters are on the frontlines of protecting our communities,” said Illinois Lottery Acting Director Harold Mays. “More than ever, we are thankful for their service. Their selfless work shows that Illinois is full of winners.”
This year the Blue Police Memorial ticket will help generate funds to support the families of law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. In Chicago alone, more than 300 police officers have been directly affected by COVID-19, and three CPD officers have lost their lives from COVID-19.
“We are grateful for the Illinois Lottery and its retailers for supporting our first responders and their families, especially in a time like this,” said Phil Cline, Executive Director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, which is a beneficiary from the Blue Police Memorial instant ticket.
Last year, with the purchase of the Blue ticket, Illinois Lottery players helped generate more than $1 million to support initiatives of the Illinois Police Officers Memorial Committee, the Illinois State Police Memorial Park Fund, and the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
Profits from the Blue Police Memorial ticket are used to build and maintain police memorials, hold annual police commemorations, and provide scholarships and financial assistance to the families of fallen officers or officers injured in the line of duty. A video about last year’s ticket launch can be viewed on the Illinois Lottery YouTube page.
For more information on the Blue Police Memorial ticket, visit illinoislottery.com.
About the Illinois Lottery:
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $21 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like homelessness prevention, Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics, police memorial funds and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.
