Letter to the Editor: Marblehead Police Help Give Special Gift

On December 19th, two members of the Marblehead Police Department will travel south with officers from around New England and other parts of the United States to fulfill an early Christmas wish for a child who is terminally ill with brain cancer.

Six-year-old Nathan Norman from Rustburg, Va., has shared his wish to receive Christmas cards from strangers, including police, fire and emergency medical personnel.

Members of the Burlington, MA Police Department have organized a huge convoy that will include officers from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut who will travel to Virginia early Wednesday morning. 

The caravan of nearly 100 marked police vehicles driven by uniformed officers will make the nearly eleven-hour drive to personally deliver Christmas cards and presents to Nathan and his three siblings.

The trip will be funded by the individual officers who volunteered their personal time to surprise Nathan and his family. In some departments, such as Marblehead, co-workers have also voted to help underwrite some of the travel expenses that their fellow officers will incur.

In addition to a Christmas card signed by Marblehead police personnel, Nathan will receive an official honorary Marblehead Police badge engraved with his initials on the front that was generously donated by the V. H. Blackington Badge Company of Attleboro.

Additionally, he will receive a Marblehead Police mountain-bike patrol polo shirt complete with shoulder patches and his name and a badge embroidered on it.  The shirt was donated by a Revere firefighter who owns the Ledge Design Company of Chelmsford and is someone who has also personally battled brain cancer. Marblehead’s Penny Bear Company has contributed four bears – one dressed in a police officer’s uniform – for Nathan and his brother and sisters.

Marblehead’s police officers encourage readers to send Nathan and his brother and sisters Christmas cards or other expressions of support.