More than 20 kids battling cancer received junior LAPD badges in a ceremony at the department's Elysian Park Academy.
In partnership with the Sunshine Kids Foundation, a national non-profit dedicated to providing quality group activities and opportunities to children with cancer, the LAPD gave the newly inducted officers a chance to explore police cruisers, a canine unit, and a helicopter.
16-year-old Koda Eclevia, one of the honorary officers, was diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer in 2022 when doctors found a tumor on her adrenal glands.
Koda told KNX reporter, Margaret Carrero, "I was able to have surgery to take it out at the beginning of June, and ever since then, I've been feeling super great, and I feel like I'm so much closer to getting to the finish line of this whole thing."
Koda is grateful for Sunshine Kids, saying that the opportunities and events they plan allow her to feel like a little kid again.
LAPD Senior Lead Officer Joseph Orlanes said the department has been doing events like this with the Sunshine Kids Foundation since 2006.
He said, "We're lucky to have them. They give us this non-tangible gift that you can't see, but you can only feel - it hits right to the heart."
The foundation's executive director Jennifer Wisler, believes that due to the life-and-death nature of their experiences, the officers and Sunshine Kids "Put up a shield of bravery sometimes. But to let that love in and know that they don't fight alone," is something that bonds these two organizations.
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