OREGON — The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office drew names Friday for a raffle benefiting the family of one of its detectives.  

On Jan, 1, 2022, Amber Most, wife of Detective Kevin Most, suddenly became ill. Over the following two weeks, Amber underwent a series of tests and was ultimately diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. 

Amber, Kevin and their 7-year-old daughter, Addi, have a long road ahead. The sheriff’s office started a raffle to help cover medical costs. What began as a raffle for three guns at the start of the year grew to include 12 prizes after donations from various county businesses.

The raffle drawing was moved up to Friday after being originally planned for March 1 due to Amber starting another round of treatment on March 1. Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said he wanted Amber and Kevin there for the drawing.

The couple drew 12 names and spoke to the community and thanked it for its support during a Facebook live video. Amber expressed gratitude for those who bought and sold tickets and donated items for the drawing. 

“We’re so grateful and so thankful to everyone who has donated and helped through this,” Amber said. “We also want to thank the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office for being our family. Law enforcement is extremely important to us and we couldn’t do this without them. I want to thank everyone here who has sold tickets and done this for us. We love them very much and we’re very gracious.”

In a Friday press release, the sheriff’s office called the response to the raffle “overwhelming,” and said that it demonstrates the kindness and generosity of the citizens of Ogle County and the surrounding communities. 

The release mentioned the following businesses that helped with the raffle: Hub-Remsen Printing in Hillcrest, Mel’s Custom Graphics in Mt. Morris, Rat Worx in Mt. Morris, Tim Ponder, Headon’s Fine Meats in Creston, Turf RX in Stillman Valley, Calhoun Plumbing in Oregon, Patchwork Inn in Oregon, Tease Salon in Stillman Valley, Bad Ash Cigars in Oregon, Black Rifle Coffee and Goodman Painting. 

Car magnets were also made by Mel’s Custom Graphics with all proceeds going to the Most family. They’re for sale for $10 each at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, 202 S. 1st St in Oregon.

VanVickle spoke during the drawing on Facebook live and said he enjoyed seeing the support for the Most family from the community. 

“We’re fortunate to live in the community we live in,” VanVickle said. “Because they truly do support law enforcement. This is a shining example of not only supporting law enforcement, but supporting your neighbor and families and the community.”

Kevin thanked the sheriff’s office for organizing the raffle and selling tickets and putting manpower towards it. He said there have also been multiple other police and fire departments that have done similar things for his family. He thanked the businesses for donating the prizes, magnets and selling tickets. 

“You never expect cancer to come your way,” Kevin said. “But I guess I didn’t expect the mass amounts of generosity and time and effort that everybody has put into this. I just want to thank everybody in our community and many communities in the state of Illinois. The outreach from far distances has been just amazing.”