BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Each month, “WBZ Cares” highlights a worthy non-profit organization and tells the story of what that organization does for the community. This month WBZ is profiling Cops for Kids with Cancer, a non-profit organization focused on raising funds to provide assistance to families of children fighting cancer, to improve their quality of life and ease financial burdens so all energies can go to helping their child beat cancer.
What started in 2002 as a rivalry, charity golf tournament between Boston police and police in Ireland, has grown into a charity that has handed out more than 3-million dollars to help local families with children battling cancer.
“It’s a terrible thing when a family has a child with cancer. A lot of times the mother has to stop working and they lose a paycheck. And if it’s a single mother it’s twice as bad. It's terrible,” stated former Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief Bob Faherty.
Faherty is a founding member of Cops for Kids with Cancer.
Today, police across Massachusetts raise money year-round through marathons, golf tournaments, No-Shave November, and a wide variety of other fundraisers. Between that and individual, public donations they receive on their website, they're now able to help 8 families a month, that’s 96 a year. Each family receives a check for 5,000.
“You can see it in their eyes how wonderful they feel about getting the money. There’s no strings attached. They can do whatever they want with the money. It's their money,” Faherty said.
“We really try to improve their quality of life,” stated Cancer Board Chairman Bill Coulter who has personally handed out hundreds of checks to families across New England.
“The worst situations ever are when they get evicted or when the parent gets fired and that's not that uncommon. All of a sudden a company, whether it be a small company or a big company, they don’t like it that their employee’s not there sporadically,” Coulter commented.
Last year alone, between the families and 20,000 dollars split between Tufts Medical Center and Mass General they handed out more than a half million dollars, most of that raised by police.
“Our mission is to raise funds and then find the neediest, sickest children or families with children and help them. It’s that simple. We sort of raise and manage funds and then just give ‘em back,” Coulter concluded.
WBZ NewsRadio1030's Shari Small Reports