Cops continue crusade for needy kids

Each year, officers team up with KYGO to deliver toys, clothing, even medical care

By Gary Gerhardt
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

In a world where children expect to receive cybertoys and wireless phones of their own for Christmas, imagine a child who asks for nothing more than a pair of socks.

Littleton police officer Bob Carmody remembers one.

"It was a snowy day at his school, and they let the kids play in the gym," Carmody said. "But the students had to wear socks on the gym floor and this kid couldn't play because he wasn't wearing socks. The reason was it wasn't his day to wear the socks — it was his mother's turn so she could go to work."

Such gut-wrenching tales of poverty in a metro area that brags of a 2.3 percent unemployment rate is hard to reconcile. But this year, police officers in the Denver area will distribute toys, clothing and other goods to about 15,000 youngsters who live in poverty or need.

Many of those toys and other items are being housed in the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, 7711 E. Academy Boulevard, Hanger 1, at the former Lowry Air Force Base.

The museum donated the 37,000-square-foot hanger for the Christmas Crusade for Children — often called "Cops for Kids" — which is teamed with country radio station KYGO-FM (98.5).

As police officers in the metro area come across youngsters in need, they include them in the effort so they can have a decent Christmas.

On Dec. 22 and 23, those same officers, in uniform, will make deliveries. It's often the only time such youngsters see the officers when they aren't involved in a police action at their homes.

"I remember another boy who was about 5 when we first met him," Carmody said. "His legs were deformed, and for Christmas we hooked him up with the Shriner's Hospital. Today he's a fifth-grader and moves around a lot better."

He also tells of arresting the brother in one family, and when he went to talk to them he found that they couldn't afford electrical power in their home. Officers found a way to get the bills paid.

Denver police Detective Manny Alverez is one of the originators of the Christmas Crusade for Children.

"It started 18 years ago when I was having lunch with a friend, Roger Monday, at what then was KBRQ radio," he said. "He mentioned a similar program in Wichita, Kan., and I told him I'd run it by the members of LA LEY, the Latino officers' association."

They jumped at the opportunity, and he had the immediate blessing of then-police Chief Tom Coogan.

For the next 18 years, Alverez would donate his four-week vacation each year to coordinating the crusade.

"We advertized in the police bulletin and they started promoting it on KBRQ," he said. "Within two days, the Adams County Sheriff's Department called asking if they could join. Then Aurora, Littleton and others."

He said the officers set up cots at the radio station and worked long into the night answering phones and collecting gifts.

"The first year we tried to wrap the toys. There were 4,000 kids that year," Alverez said.

"Someone donated a huge spool of wrapping paper, and we went at it. Within a few days, we realized the tape was pulling our fingerprints off. We'd wake up in the night from the pain because our fingers were raw," he said.

Now they want unwrapped gifts.

Each day, KYGO reads a story of a youngster in need. People can donate for that child, or call to see what gifts are requested by boys or girls and their ages.

Contact Gary Gerhardt at (303) 892-5202 or gerhardtg@RockyMountainNews.com.

December 6, 2000