Livingston Police officers play basketball with children with special needs at Friendship Circle Camp.

(Courtesy of FC) Police are about to descend on LifeTown in Livingston. They will not be executing any search warrants. Rather, on Thursday, August 25, they’ll be playing basketball with participants on the brand new outdoor basketball court at the 53,000-square-foot facility serving people with special needs and their families.

The visit marks the second for the Livingston Police Department. In the spring, a group of seven officers took a brief tour in honor of Autism Awareness Month. “We knew we wanted to come back to interact with participants,” said Officer Joy Klapal, who organized both visits. After the first visit, she said, “We want to make kids realize we are their friends, and that if they see us, they should have no reason to be afraid. We also want to get to know the kids and gain more skills in our tool belts for interacting with people on the spectrum.”

“We want our participants to interact with as many people in the community as possible, and to feel valued by everyone,” said Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, CEO of LifeTown and its parent program, Friendship Circle of New Jersey. “We hope this is the first of many events together.”

The visit comes during the Friendship Circle camp, which runs for three weeks. Over 75 participants and hundreds of teen volunteers are attending.

The game begins at 10:30 a.m. on August 25 at LifeTown, 10 Microlab Road, Livingston, NJ.

For more information visit www.fcnj.com and www.LifeTown.com.