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Cops for Kids with Cancer rallies around Revere boy with leukemia

REVERE, Mass. — A group of police officers traveled to Revere on Thursday to show their support for a young boy who’s battling leukemia.

Cops for Kids with Cancer gave six-year-old Cristopher Chavarria and his family a $5,000 check to help ease the financial burden of his diagnosis.

A police escort picked Chavarria and his mother up at their home and brought them to Revere’s police station for the check presentation.

“A lot of people think of police as the heroes, but really, I think for all of the police officers that showed up today, this little guy is our hero,” Canton Deputy Police Chief Helena Rafferty told Boston 25 News.

Rafferty is president of Cops for Kids with Cancer, a charitable organization focused on raising money to provide help to families of children fighting cancer.

“When you have a child with cancer, there's a lot of insularly costs,” Rafferty said. “The gas in and out, parking, you know, they don't say, 'Oh, your kid has cancer. You don't have to pay for parking.'”

Revere Police Chief James Guido said Chavarria is the fifth young cancer patient in his city to receive support from the organization.

“I'm just so happy we could help someone again,” Guido said. “It just brought a little joy to Christopher and my prayers are with him. I hope he has a full recovery.”

Rafferty said Cops for Kids with Cancer has already given out more than $3.5 million. All the money is raised by police officers when they’re off-duty.

If you'd like to donate to Cops for Kids with Cancer, click here.