FAIRFIELD — A popular annual holiday program led by the Police Department will be held this week and feature a new twist for families.

The Cops Care for Kids event will be held Thursday and Friday at the Fairfield Community Center, with police officers there to welcome families and speak with children.

Families can go to www.fairfieldcopscare.com to sign up for available times to visit with officers at the community center. There will be movies, hot cocoa and gifts for children. Officers in past years had delivered presents to families in town, and that option is still available to those that are interested.

The Cops Care for Kids program is open to all school-age children in Fairfield.

It has been running since 2006 and has grown significantly over the years. Detective Capt. Kingston Paul started the program quietly, purchasing and delivering gifts for disadvantaged kids on his own. Once other officers heard about the effort, they joined in as well.

Officers would contribute money from their paychecks for the gifts and helped deliver them as well. When Paul retired in 2015 after 20 years on the force, he donated $20,000 to ensure that the program continues.

Full-time officers continue to make donations from their paychecks for the program, and many part-time officers help with the logistics of the program, according to police spokesman Officer Casey Dugas. As the project has grown, officers have to start wrapping two weeks ahead of time.

Gifts and an inflatable Santa decoration are in place Monday for the Fairfield Police Department’s upcoming Cops Care for Kids program at the Fairfield Community Center. The program is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“What started as a gesture by the late Detective Capt. Kingston Paul to provide a little extra to disadvantaged kids has morphed into a program where we get to interact with families all over town in a positive light,” Dugas said in a news release.

These days a child who signs up for the program receives three wrapped gifts and a stuffed animal, Dugas said. Officers last year delivered gifts to 243 kids.

As of Monday there were 75 children signed up to come to the community center, and another 140 kids were registered to have gifts delivered.

Officers wanted to incorporate the gatherings at the community center this year to get more time to interact with the kids, because they only get a few minutes with the families when dropping off gifts, Dugas said.

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