Being alone for the holidays is one thing. Being a kid stuck in the hospital is even worse. But a new initiative by local law officers is aimed at making Christmas a little easier for kids whose holiday is overshadowed by cancer.

“Hey buddy!” The voice comes from a Santa wearing body armor, a badge and a gun. And he’s not alone. There are almost a dozen others like him filing into the room occupied by 7-year-old cancer patient Conner Arneson.

Conner is spending Christmas in the Aflac Cancer Center at Children’s Scottish Rite Hospital. The officers who fill his room wear expressions that, to the unknowing, seem unusual. They are expressions of compassion and concern.

“We do have a heart and we do like to see the families (of these children) smile,” said Cobb Police Officer Michael Bowman, one of the founders of Cops Curing Kids with Cancer. It is a new venture aimed at helping improve the fortunes of children facing one of life’s most threatening diseases.

Bowman, along with other police officers from around the metro area, delivered hundreds of toys to kids Children’s Hospital on Thursday. Pediatric Oncologist John Bergsagel was rocked back on his heels, impressed with the gift and the difference it would make to his young patients.

“This is one of the few good things about treating kids with cancer,” he said outside the hospital as Bowman and other officers unloaded their toys.

Dr. Bergsagel said that dozens of children would benefit from these gifts – children who would know little joy during holidays that are otherwise filled with the pain of treatment and recovery.

“It’s unbelievable the joy this will bring to kids who are stuck here during the holidays,” he said.