The 2011 Valor Awards were presented on November 9 at a ceremony held at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza.
Photo caption, pictured from left to right:
Illinois State Trooper Nicholas Farnesi, Chicago Police Officer Jenelyn Figueroa and Chicago Fire Department Lt. Andre Raiford with their 2011 Valor Awards are joined by Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy who received a Special Recognition Award at the 100 Club’s Valor Awards Reception and Ceremony held on November 9 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza.
In 1980, the Board of Directors of the 100 Club of Chicago established the Valor Award to be presented annually to those who by their action performed above and beyond the call of duty and in the highest tradition of their respective departments. This is a highly respected award in that the honorees are selected by their peers. It is the only civilian award that is permitted to be worn on the awardee’s uniform in every municipality within Cook County.
The 2011 Valor Award winners are:
- Illinois State Trooper Nicholas Farnesi, for apprehension of armed felons who had just committed a burglary of a gun store in Tinley Park;
- Chicago Police Officer Jenelyn Figueroa, who pursued a burglar who had captured and released a woman and then attempted to flee in a SUV; when the offender tried to harm her partner standing on the vehicle’s running board, Officer Figueroa interceded and captured the suspect while he was driving the vehicle;
- Chicago Fire Department Lt. Andre Raiford, who rescued an 80-year-old grandmother from inside a building apartment building on Chicago’s west side.
Special Recognition Awards were also presented at the ceremony to Orland Park Police Chief Timothy J. McCarthy and to Rev. Thomas Nangle, recently retired Chaplain of the Chicago Police Department.