It  was two weeks before Christmas. Dirt-blackened snow lined the icy roads while a dark, ominous sky and frigid temperatures kept most people indoors. But to a group of cops from the third precinct in Nassau County, New York, none of that mattered. They met at the station house, gathered their costumes, broke off into groups, and headed to the local health clinic.

Once there, some changed into bears, some into clowns, some stayed in their uniforms, and one transformed into Santa Claus.

As the officers walked into the main room, the cold chill brought in from the outside suddenly disappeared amid the happy shouts of more than 200 children. While the uniformed officers played with the kids, Santa Claus patiently gave each child a gift. For many, it would be the only one they would receive that season.

The officers were there on their own time. But to them this event was more than worthy of their attention. In one afternoon they helped 200 children see that the police aren't the bad guys after all. They hoped the kids learned that there are kind and generous people in their world, and some of them are in blue uniforms.

Scenes like this are repeated all over the country as each year police officers from dozens of departments reach beyond their law enforcement duties to give something back to the communities they serve.

Playing Santa

In Ocean County, New Jersey, the Sheriff's department gathers more than 1,000 toys for the holiday season each year. According to Sheriff William Polhemus, the agency begins its drive in September.

"We start collecting toys for children under 12 from underprivileged families. We also have a food drive at the same time so we can donate to families that need the help," he says.

With the aid of its 106 officers, 911 operators and dispatchers, and all of its civilian employees, the department helps families that Polhemus says would not otherwise be able to celebrate fall and winter holidays with food and gifts.

Ocean County officers put toys in large plastic bags at police headquarters where parents or guardians can pick them up.

Door-to-Door Delivery

Across the country in Torrance, Calif., the city's police and fire departments were a little more innovative in the way they distributed their toys last year.

They arrived at the local hospital in police cars and a fire truck. On the seventh floor were children who were quarantined, but that did not stop officers and firefighters from making their deliveries. Santa Claus climbed the fire department's ladder up the seven stories and waved to the children to let them know he would be inside soon.

And he kept his promise. The officers and firemen were able to give each child a gift. Those who could not come to them, the officers went to, even if they had to wear masks.

The hospital was not the only stop for the busy department. More than 300 children got deliveries last year from the Torrance PD.

The department's toy drive begins the week after Thanksgiving. Donation boxes are put out in the main police station, satellite stations, and firehouses where community members can easily deposit toys.

According to Torrance PD's Officer Christine Kiesling, the officers then have their work cut out for them.

"We get a lot of referrals from the schools. They will know which are low income or might be going through hard times. We trust their judgment that it is a family in need," she says.

While some parents of needy children pick up donated gifts from the police station, officers often deliver the gifts themselves, making sure each gift is appropriate for the gender and age of each child.

"The officers drive up in their black and whites and deliver the presents in large garbage bags so the kids can't see," says Kiesling. "That way, if the parents want to play Santa or surprise the children for whatever holiday they celebrate, they have the opportunity to do it themselves."

Torrance PD doesn't limit its charitable efforts to the holiday season. The department is heavily involved in supporting the Special Olympics, as are many law enforcement agencies.

A Special Cause

In the first nine months of this year, the Torrance Police Department raised $14,000 for the Special Olympics games, which encourage mentally and physically challenged children to compete in sports. All the money the agency raises each year goes directly to the participants. Last year, thanks to local donations, the Southern California regional program was able to increase the number of those participating from 300 to 350, in addition to adding two more sporting events to the competition.

The funds from these events also sent six participants to Ireland to compete in the 2004 world Special Olympics Championships. The funds raised this year will send two of the athletes to participate in the speed skating world games in Japan.

Torrance PD's money-raising efforts for Special Olympics include events like "Tip a Cop," where officers serve food in local restaurants and donate their tips, a motorcycle ride fundraiser and T-shirt sales whose proceeds help sponsor the Special Olympics law enforcement torch run.

Many other departments throughout the country also contribute to the Special Olympics and to the law enforcement torch run, which is the largest grass roots fundraiser and public awareness effort for Special Olympics. More than 85,000 law enforcement officers from around the world raised more than $20 million for the games in 2003. The "Flame of Hope" was carried across 35 nations in order to raise money and public awareness of the organization.

Special Olympics is also an important charity for the Boulder (Colo.) Police Department, as is its popular fundraiser for the cause, Tip a Cop.

According to Boulder PD Sgt. Dave Seper, Tip a Cop has been a very successful means of raising funds. Officers from the department spend an evening collecting "tips" for the cause as they serve restaurant diners water and coffee, but not food or alcohol.

"They won't let us touch the food. It's bad enough we spill the water and coffee," he says. Based on the department's last event, the Boulder PD "waiters" must not be spilling too many of the drinks, however. In a four-hour period they raised $1,050.

Boulder PD officers also work with local gas stations to raise money for Special Olympics and participate in the torch run.

"As a bonus, it's a great way to interact with the local businesses," Seper says.

The Hasbrouck Heights (N.J.) Police Department has also been involved with the Special Olympics, raising enough money to place as the third-highest fundraisers in the state of New Jersey, despite being a small department in a town of only two square miles. The agency got its start in fundraising with a smaller goal in mind.[PAGEBREAK]

Reason to Give

Police departments begin their charity work for many different reasons. For Detective Sgt. Joseph Rinke of the Hasbrouck Heights PD, it began with an ambulance ride where he met a young boy named Joey Peters who had badly cut his face. Two years later, Joey's mother appealed to the Police Benevolent Association for assistance in obtaining a hearing aid for him. The boy's father had lost his job and the family had no insurance. Rinke knew he had to do something more than just give a donation that wouldn't cover the full cost of the medical device.

"I thought maybe we should make it a community affair, where all the families could come, have a good time and get the whole thing taken care of in a nutshell," says Rinke. "That way Joey's mother wouldn't have to go around to different agencies asking for donations."

Rinke organized a pasta dinner to raise funds to purchase Joey a hearing aid. It took a lot of effort on the part of the 12,000 residents of the small town. But families pitched in and the event was so successful that there was even some money left over. That money was used to help others in need and inspired the department to campaign for other charitable causes.

Now, Hasbrouk Heights PD also holds a bike marathon on Memorial Day weekend for children in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Teams of four or five children take turns riding around a track for 24 hours. In between laps they take naps in tents, play music, and enjoy an event where even the parents get involved. The winners all get brand new bikes.

Boulder PD uses bikes to reach out to children as well. Since Boulder is a bicycle community, officers teach bike safety and cover other safety issues. Like Hasbrouk Heights, Boulder has expanded its charitable causes to include funding to fight Muscular Dystrophy and helping children from local low-income projects. Officers also participate in the Toys for Tots drive, personally distributing the toys in uniform.

It's not only kids and bikes and costumed officers that draw the crowds, but animals as well.

K-9 Connection

In Connecticut, the state police and local departments have come to rely on their K-9 counterparts to raise money for worthy causes. This year agencies participated in the 13th K-9 Olympics fundraiser. Teams of dogs from the local agencies compete in an arena-style setting. According to Sgt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police, "the turnout is pretty spectacular!"

While the crowds are drawn to the dogs, Vance says the police wives draw in the money by selling food, coffee, and souvenirs. The money raised is donated to the Hole in the Wall Gang, a camp for people with cancer, in addition to a relief fund for 9/11 victims and other charities.

A Growing Tradition

One of the best examples of an organized and creative police charity comes from Wickenburg, Arizona.

A tradition was started there more than 20 years ago when a few cops started "passing the hat" during the holiday season.

According to retired officer Roy Reyer, who is now with the group Cops Who Care, after awhile it became too difficult for he and his fellow officers to get to all the families that needed their help on their own. "So myself and other families decided to go and ask for businesses and other organizations to help us out," says Reyer. "Once they signed on, instead of one family, we were able to help five."

Then, Reyer says, he put a letter in the local newspaper the week before Christmas and within a week raised $6,000, enough to get toys for 200 children. What started as a small gift of love and time grew into a yearly event.

Because the Arizona area where Cops Who Care operates is a farming community and the holidays are a prime picking season, a large number of migrant workers often found themselves there with no way to celebrate the holidays. There were also areas with a large low-income population.

Knowing this, and having raised so much money in such a short time, spurred the small group on.

"We said, 'Let's try to be a little more organized,'" says Reyer. With the help of other departments in the surrounding areas-including the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Maricopa Police Department, and the Yavapai Police Department-the group expanded and a corporation of law enforcement agencies and public services agencies was established.

In its second official year in operation, Cops Who Care raised enough money to buy toys for 600 children.

As each year proved more successful than the last, the group became even more determined to continue the trend of giving. And it did. Members held a car show last year and required everyone who attended to bring a toy. When it was over, 5,000 toys had been donated. The group also holds a chili cook off hot enough to attract the best chili cooks in the state of Arizona.

The organization has grown so big that it has expanded to include other holidays.

Cops Who Care now holds an annual Easter egg hunt, which Reyer says is "a great way for the police officers to get to know the young children." It also hosts a Fourth of July celebration complete with relay races, leapfrog, and other games in which police officers interact with participating children and give out prizes.

Outside of the holiday seasons, the group also sponsors little league sports teams and a pee-wee football team. They help needy children at the beginning of the year, giving younger children what they call scholarships, which include clothing, school supplies, and other things their parents can't afford.

Cops Who Care members take an active interest in children's lives, taking children on field trips to places like water parks and funding drug education programs, in addition to teen dances and other popular events.

"We have grown from passing the hat once a year to now doing something every few months. We do some kind of activity that the officers are involved in with kids. And we don't limit it to at-risk kids. Our prime focus is showing all kids that cops are here to help them, cops care," says Reyer.

And while he may be retired from police work, he hasn't retired from helping others. Nor have the many who help him: the officers, their wives, and their families. They buy presents, wrap them, and make sure they get to the right families.

"It's a second full-time job," Reyer says, adding with a smile, "I can't get out of it; nobody will let me leave it."

Reyer's apparent enthusiasm and pride for the program are evident and it appears that he and the others involved are getting their own rewards from their efforts.

Members of police departments who have become involved with local community charities agree that there are many benefits: the obvious satisfaction of giving their time to people who need it, the ability to interact on a positive level with the community, and perhaps the greatest benefit of all, the feeling of knowing they are helping others, something many of them say goes back to why they first came on the job.