BURLINGTON — They gathered before dawn for Nathan.

First responders packed into 95 police cruisers and hit the road in the name of a child whose potentially last living wish was to simply receive a Christmas card from them.

Nathan Norm, 5, of Rustburg, Va., won’t have to open any envelopes on Thursday morning when he receives his cards.

It’s a postage-free job since the cards are being hand-delivered, thanks to a massive, magical all-points-bulletin call that began with the Virginia State Police and ended with the Burlington Police Department.

“It is simply unbelievable,” Burlington Police Officer Jim Tigges. “I know we expected a decent turnout this morning at the mall but not this.”

According to a blog managed by Norman’s parents, the boy, who turns 6 on Dec. 28, started suffering from seizures just before his first birthday. The seizures became more frequent and a January 2009 MRI discovered a tumor inside his brain.

Surgery successfully removed 45 percent of the tumor, but a checkup three months later showed it had grown. Nathan went on chemotherapy until doctors discovered the tumor was still growing and had spread to his spine. More powerful drugs followed.

“These are just to try and stabilize the tumors but will not get rid of the cancer,” wrote his mom Dawn.

Tigges said Sgt. Gerry McDonough heard Nathan’s story and thought a personal appearance would mean more than just a card. Police, firefighters and EMTs are the boy’s heroes, his family has said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, McDonough and 16 other Burlington officers, including K-9 dog Havoc, were on the road to Virginia. Tigges said it was McDonough who started asking other departments if anyone was up for a road trip.

In the Merrimack Valley, departments from Bedford, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Groton, Littleton, Lowell and Tewksbury hopped on board.

Farther west, departments from Fitchburg, Leominster and Westminster also joined in.

Lowell Police Lt. Tim Crowley said three officers, Sgt. Marc LeBlanc and officers Chris Bomil and Brian Kinney, were making the trip. Crowley said all the officers were taking the trip on personal time, on their own dime.

Crowley said the department put together a gift bag, including a personalized Lowell Police Department shirt with Nathan’s name along with Police Academy gear and a motorcycle outfit he can share with his two sisters, Sarah and Tabitha, and his brother Matthew.

“He’ll look pretty good down in Virginia, that’s for sure,” said Crowley.

At around 11 a.m., Leominster Police Officer Elvin Vasquez said from his cellphone that “right now we’re in a convoy of about 150 cruisers in New Jersey.”

Cruisers left from Burlington but more joined the convoy as they passed communities along the way, Vasquez said.

Officers considered stopping at Newtown, Conn., to pay their respects but community officials said it is too soon and there is not enough room for all the cars, he said.

Leominster officers lined up in dress uniform Friday for a department photo that was flanked by department shoulder emblems and then matted and framed for Nathan, Vasquez said.

Fitchburg Police Department spokesman Sgt. Glenn Fossa said two officers drove to Virginia.

“There was a great response by all the guys here in the Police Department,” he said. “Monetary and gifts, it was just great.”

Westminster Police Officer Jason Weatherbee said he felt compelled to take part in the mission to Virginia.

“It’s an honor to be a part of this,” he said.

It was a remarkable show of support among law enforcement for Nathan, Weatherbee said from the road using a hands-free telephone.

With cruisers’ blue lights flashing, motorists were pulling to the side of the highway to let the convoy get past, he said.

The timing of the mission was not lost on Vasquez.

“I think we lost the meaning of Christmas — it’s kind of gotten very retail, and this brings us back to the origin of Christmas,” he said. “This is a kid that could have asked for anything and he asked for cards. it’s a very humbling experience.”

Vasquez said Leominster officers were allowed to take a city police car but were paying their own way on the trip.

Follow Evan Lips at Twitter.com/evanmlips.