Childhood Cancer Foundation decks the halls with NYPD, FDNY to bring Christmas cheer to kid, families who need it most

Several dozen families and children attended the 2024 Candlelighters NYC Childhood Cancer Foundation Christmas party for some much-needed comfort and joy, which included a visit from none other than St.Nick himself.The NYPD’s 86th Precinct was transformed into a winter wonderland for the event Sunday morning, decked out in festive decorations as Christmas carols filled the air.Children’s faces lit up like Christmas trees as motorcycle NYPD patrol officers took them for a lap around Central Park in their sidecar, while FDNY members dressed up in superhero costumes to the youngsters’ delight.For most of the families and children in attendance, many of whom were in the midst of fighting — or had previously fought — battles with cancer, the foundation has been a lifeline both before and after their treatment.Among them was 17-year-old Joseph Maroney, a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 6.“The treatment was definitely a struggle.

It was very out of nowhere,” the teen told The Post.The disease wreaked havoc on the teen’s mobility, forcing him to use a walker and then a wheelchair before ultimately having to learn to walk again.He went into remission in March, 2014 after receiving a bone marrow transplant at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Now an 11th-grader at Wellington C.Mepham High School on Long Island, Maroney says he wants to be a police officer one day.“The Candlelighters have always been a very big support … It’s like another family,” he shared.His parents agreed.

They said they found the Candlelighters online after he received his diagnosis.“We’re very grateful for what Candlelighters does for our family … We’re lucky enough that our kid is 11 years in remission,” Joseph’s mother and teacher, Gemma Maroney, 40, said the Christmas party is an opportunity to help them give back to other families still going through what they did.Rachel Wilson, 44, her husband, Ryan, 47, were also in att...