Aurora Police Departmentap Jim Seneca was two weeks into police academy training in Buffalo, N.Y., when the news came in August 1987: He had leukemia at age 26. Seneca, who survived the cancer, founded the Colorado nonprofit Cops Fighting Cancer in 2003.
The organization’s first event in 2002 drew just Seneca and his partner, but this year more than 300 law enforcement officers from across the state volunteered for the 15th annual Joe Bumberger Memorial Long Blue Line, delivering toys to all patients at Children’s Hospital Colorado, regardless of diagnosis. Brightening the days of patients and families keeps Seneca coming back year after year.
“Itap definitely a calling and a blessing to do this,” he said. This year’s ambassador is Logan Whitehead, 14, who is battling brain cancer.