Memory of slain Hanover Park man fuels charity road rally

While the family of Hanover Park resident Sami Salaymeh waits for Chicago police to find the person who fatally shot the 27-year-old in the South Loop neighborhood June 6, his supporters came together Sunday to raise thousands of dollars in his name for a children's charity.

Salaymeh's brother, Omar Salaymeh, helped organize the Ultimate Road Rally at Iron Gate Motor Condos in Naperville to benefit Cal's Angels, a charity that grants wishes for kids with cancer. The event, which gave kids and their family members an opportunity to co-pilot a Porsche 918 Spyder, Lamborghini or one of 34 other sports cars, raised $30,000 for the St. Charles-based charity.

Omar Salaymeh got people from Chicago Motor Cars, where he works, and Iron Gate Motor Condos to volunteer to take the kids on rides and dress up as superheros along the route. Omar said Sami was planning to help out with the fundraiser, which had been planned for months, before he was fatally shot last Monday.

Several fellow organizer and sponsors reached out to Omar since last week to let him know they would have understood if he didn't want to hold the fundraiser after his brother was killed.

“I know (Sami) would have wanted us to do something special,” Omar said. “We couldn't save his life, but there were lots of kids' and their families' lives that we touched.”

Several of the drivers placed window decals in vehicles reading “We ralli for Sami.”

Siblings and parents of the kids who benefit from Cal's Angels were invited for rides, too.

Tall mothers and fathers tucked into small back seats while their children took the shotgun seat. The cars sped off onto Ferry Road, and the kids returned from the rides with smiles plastered on their faces.

“Everybody had this high that you just couldn't get rid of,” Omar Salaymeh said.

Dennis Kostic volunteered to give kids rides in his Porsche 918 Spyder. While out on the road, Kostic says one of the kids told him, “This is all that I could wish for.”

Kostic says he could stay at the motor condos all day giving the kids rides.

“It's one of the happiest days, and also one of the saddest days,” he added.

Sami Salaymeh would have turned 28 on June 25. His brother says helping to organize the fundraiser for the kids and seeing people donate money in Sami's name helped in dealing with his brother's death.

“It brought a sense of love that shows that many people are there to do something for someone they may not even know that well,” Omar Salaymeh said. “To see that many people come out made it a little less painful.”