Providence man donates cancer ribbons for Police Cruisers

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

Providence Police cruisers are now carrying a little extra onboard as they patrol the streets. Thanks to Providence resident Jerry Rudd, each of the department’s vehicles now displays an emblem reminding residents that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.

Rudd said that after childhood cancer had touch the lives of several families that he knows, he asked what he could do to help. The answer was to help raise awareness.

“So I went online and ordered these ribbons,” Rudd said. He then brought them to Police Chief Brent McDowell, who agreed to allow Rudd to place the ribbons on each of the cruisers.

Providence Police Chief Brent McDowell and resident Jerry Rudd pose
in front of one of the cruisers carrying the Childhood Cancer Awareness
Sticker.

According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, each year in the U.S. there are approximately 13,400 children between the ages of birth and 19 years of age who are diagnosed with cancer. About one in 300 boys and one in 333 girls will develop cancer before their 20th birthday. In 1998, about 2500 died of cancer, making cancer the most common cause of death by disease for children and adolescents in America.