Forty-two Westmont police officers are now a little safer when they take to the streets thanks to the participants in last year’s first Westmont Beanie Baby 5k Run/Walk held in June. Race organizers have high hopes for year two.

The $5,000 proceeds from the 2007 race, sponsored by Ty Warner, Oak Brook Racquet Club and The McCrone Group, were donated to the Police Department for the purchase of new bulletproof vests, which will be fully issued in the next few weeks to replace old — and sometimes sub par — vests officers were sporting.

The new $500 vests are level III-A, which are “as high a level of protection that can be worn just for patrol use,” said Police Chief Jim Ramey. The federal government matched the $5,000 donated by the race sponsors, and the remainder of the vests were purchased by police.

Though no Westmont officer has ever been shot in the line of duty in the history of the department, Ramey said the equipment was “at the top of the (wish) list.” In 1977, while serving as a police officer for the police department in St. Petersburg, Fla., Ramey was shot in the line of duty.

“It gave me a significant, personal appreciation for the importance of body armor,” Ramey said.

New patrol officer Ernesto Torres said the vests are appreciated.

“Compared to what I wore in the military, it’s a lot smaller, thinner and I’m able to go a lot faster with this on the streets,” he said.

With June approaching, race organizers are preparing for the second Westmont Beanie Baby 5K with an added sponsor, beneficiary and high expectations.

This year, sponsorship from the Chicago Area Runners Association will draw runners from across the Chicago region, said co-organizer Gregg Pill of the Oak Brook Racquet Club. Proceeds will be given to the Westmont fire and police departments.

From concept to finish line, planning the race has been an undertaking.  But organizers Pill, Dave Wiley, Chris Johnson and Ed Olenec — the latter three avid runners who conceived the adrenaline-infused idea after a race — said supporting a good cause, showcasing Westmont and a few golden moments in between have been well worth the endeavor.

“This lady was standing at the finish line where I was most of the time, and we didn’t quite understand what she was doing,” said Olenec, describing the end of last year’s race. “And all the sudden there were tears coming out of her eyes, and we’re standing there as one person was yet to come in. It was her husband as it turned out, and as he was approaching she was telling us — as people started to gather — that (doctors) said medically he would never walk again in his whole life. And he had just run the whole race. It was his first event back. It really put a nice finish to the race for us.”