When I retired in June 2000 as the Superintendent-in-Chief of the Boston Police Department, after 40 years of service, I just wanted to enjoy my grandchildren. But a friend of mine, John Dow a retired Boston Police Captain, and a cancer survivor, got me interested in, “Cops For Kids With Cancer.” As a police officer, our job was to “Protect and Serve.” So that is why I am now serving a Chairman of Cops For Kids With Cancer.

The organization was founded when Captain John Dow joined forces with Garda Detective Pat Hanlon of the Immigration Unit at Cork Airport, Ireland, and decided to set up the first golf tournament on both sides of the Atlantic. A group of twenty six officers, some of whom were involved in the investigation of the September 11 terrorists attacks, traveled to Ireland in June of 2002 to participate in the inaugural tournament at Lee Valley Golf Club in Cork. The proceeds from the tournament were donated to the Pediatric Cancer Ward, Mercy Hospital, Cork, Ireland.

Each year since, local law enforcement officers and friends of law enforcement go back and forth to Ireland and the Garda come here to play for the Dow Cup. The matches are even at three wins each. In September 2008, we will go back to Ireland to play the Garda and try to take the lead in the matches, but the real winner will be the kids with cancer who benefit from the money raised.

We are a federally recognized 501 ( C ) (3) not-for-profit organization, and all the money raised goes to kids with cancer. Right now our money goes to the, Pediatric Oncology Units of the Massachusetts General Hospital and the floating Hospital for Children at the New England Medical Center. The money is to be used just for the children and for what they may need while they are patients or in out patient treatment. Cops For Kids With Cancer is a small organization made of law enforcement officers and friends of law enforcement, but we hope to grow in the future. No one in the organization receives a salary, all are volunteers.

We are now trying to help families of children with cancer. We know because of economic conditions that both parents have to work. When a child has cancer it is usually the mother who has to stop working to take care of the child. Can you imagine the heartache of a parent whose child has cancer and then on top of it the worry of how to pay their bills. We would now like to help these families in a time of need. But all of this takes money and that is why we need your support. So please support us, so we can help children with cancer and their families.

Robert P. Faherty
Chairman
Superintendent-in-Chief, BPD (Retired)