For Immediate Release

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Groveland Police Receive $5,000 Donation from Cops for Kids with Cancer for Resident Battling Cancer

GROVELAND — Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Gillen is pleased to announce that Cops for Kids with Cancer has donated $5,000 to assist resident Kristina Bode, who is battling cancer.

Bode is a 9-year-old student at the Dr. Elmer S. Bagnall Elementary School in Groveland. She is fighting malignant melanoma.

Robert Faherty, Chairman of Cops for Kids with Cancer and retired Superintendent-in-Chief of the Boston Police Department, presented the Bode family with a $5,000 check at an event at Massachusetts General Hospital on Feb. 29. The money donated to Bode and her family will help offset medical costs.

Deputy Chief Gillen would like to thank Detective Heather Riley who secured the donation for the family and has assisted them with their needs.

“We are so happy to see this wonderful and deserving family receive a donation that will hopefully help them through an unimaginably painful situation,” Chief Gillen said. “Thank you to Cops for Kids with Cancer, Detective Riley and the Groveland community for their continued support.”

About Cops for Kids with Cancer:

In 2005, retired Boston Police Captain John Dow and his wife, Joan, wanted to find a way to support children with cancer who were being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital. Captain Dow, a cancer survivor, was sensitive to the needs of cancer patients and had a particular empathy for children undergoing difficult treatments. Soon after, the non-profit he founded, Cops for Kids with Cancer, began directing significant support to pediatric cancer patients at Massachusetts General Hospital. Cops for Kids with Cancer supports emergency assistance to families, events for patients and their families, and special “wishes” for teens, who are too old to be served by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Captain John Dow lost his battle with cancer in 2007, but his vision of supporting children and their families continues.

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