Ridgewood Officer Runs To Raise Money For Fallen Colleagues' Causes

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- With less than two weeks to go before he runs in the Honolulu Marathon in memory of two fallen colleagues, Ridgewood Police Officer John Ward Jr. hit his $5,000 fundraising goal.

Midland Park Police Officer Chris Birch, Waldwick Police Officer Chris Goodell
Photo Credit: *Family photos*

Jerry DeMarco

12/02/2015 8:30 p.m.

The money will go to the Christopher Goodell Scholarship Fund and Special Olympics New Jersey in the name of Midland Park Officer Chris Birch.

Waldwick Officer Goodell was working a radar detail in his unmarked cruiser, parked on the shoulder of southbound Route 17, when it was struck by an 18-wheeler the morning of July 17, 2014.

Birch was killed this past July Fouth weekend when a four-wheeled ATV he was driving crashed near a friend's Pennsylvania vacation home.

Ward ran the New York Marathon last year to raise funds for the Bone Marrow Registry.

"This time, I want to raise funds for two causes closer to home," he said.

"Like many others in Bergen County and beyond, I was moved by the outpouring of support for the families, fellow officers, and respective communities of [Goodell and Birch]," Ward wrote on a GoFundMe page.

The race is Dec. 13.

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