The New England Patriots Alumni are returning to Lisbon Sunday to face off against members of the Lisbon Police Department’s all star team — all in the name of a good cause.

The flag football game will start at 1 p.m. at the Lisbon High School football field.

The police department has been holding the biannual games for several years now to raise money for the department’s DARE program — solely funded with donations. The fundraiser brings in thousands of dollars to allow police to run the programming for local children in and out of the classroom.

The Lisbon Police Department has run a DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program for more than three decades, allowing it to work in the schools, community and with the town’s recreation department to organize family trips for local youth.

Det. Sgt. Bill Tapley said the players may start out very serious but the game becomes more comedic as it goes on.

The police and Patriots make sure they get kids involved at the football game and have some play along for a portion of the fun.

The DARE program brings awareness to the kid about substance abuse and the healthy choices they can make. Having officers right in the building has allowed kids to have a connection with law enforcement and know they can report issues when they arise.

“We’ve been fortunate all these years to have people really committed to kids. We have an outstanding relationship with the police department and it’s been a really positive thing for the police department and the school department for all those years,” said Lisbon School Department Superintendent Richard Green.

Green also spoke about the importance the visibility of the officers in the schools.

“I think having that visibility makes students, and parents, more aware of their actions. You just can’t put a price on that kind of security,” he said.

Traditionally, there have been two school resource officers that teach DARE curriculum in grades 5 and 7. This year, however, due to school budget cuts, there is only one officer.

The Police and school departments hope funding for the second position can be restored next school year.

Lisbon Officer Renee Bernard said this is her third year coordinating the football event for the completely self-funded Lisbon DARE program. Most people enter law enforcement to help people, and while Bernard loves being a patrol officer, working with kids is her passion. Facing so much negativity in today’s society, working with kids every day helps her from becoming jaded or run down.

Some of the kids she’s working with may grow up in families with no role model so if she can help a kid learn there are better ways to make choices and then make good choices, it’s worth it.

“And we couldn’t do this without the DARE football game,” she said.

dmoore@timesrecord.com