Today marks three years since a gunman assassinated NYPD Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn.

Their families, the NYPD and the Detective Ramos Foundation honored their legacies in a ceremony this afternoon at P.S. 106 to celebrate the holidays with children. Santa even made an appearance.

The police commissioner and dozens of NYPD officers attended, as well as the widow of another policeman killed in the line of duty, Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo.

"I think the excitement of seeing all the kids coming in and smiling and saying thank you, it just gives you hope for our future," said Ramos' widow, Maritza Ramos. "To see how happy those kids were and how happy the cops were, too. I think there's a lot of good things going on in the city, and I think it was important that we all got together today."

The foundation is giving out more than 500 gifts to children this year and plans to double that number next year.