Charlie Halford is hoping pitcher Tim Linecum’s autographed photo along with his San Francisco Giants rookie year baseball card will help the Manteca/Lathrop Boys & Girls Club raise part of the $120,000 the organization hopes to raise at the 31st annual telethon on Monday and Tuesday.
It is one of a long list of items ranging from a cord of wood to a two-minute shopping spree at the Grocery Outlet that will go to the highest bidder during the telethon being carried live on Comcast Channel 97 Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. and Tuesday from 4:30 to 11 p.m.
“I lived in the country growing up so you couldn’t get into trouble,” said Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Charlie Halford said in reference to neighbors who always kept tabs on him plus the numerous things that he could do.
Halford noted the club is a way for kids to stay out of trouble. He was a police officer when the club opened in the early 1980s.
“There was a noticeable drop off in kids walking the streets after (the club) opened,” Halford said.
Statistics showed that juvenile crime dropped by close to 30 percent in the immediate neighborhoods and other areas within walking distance of the clubhouse at 545 E. Alameda Street after it first opened 31 years ago.
Manteca law enforcement has a long history of supporting the club due to its effectiveness at keeping kids out of trouble and for some of the success stories it has had of taking kids going down the wrong path and turning them away from gangs to pursue a productive life.
Former police chief and now mayor Willie Weatherford was part of the board for nearly 20 years. Halford is also a former board member who became executive director 30 months ago after retiring as police chief. Current Police Chief Dave Bricker is a board member.
Halford has been working for half salary and the club has cut back on staff to keep as many programs intact during the economic downturn for the more than 1,400 kids that access the club throughout the year.
Attendance has gone up significantly during the recession.
The club raises money during the telethon via bids for auction items and pledges.
The club is rolling out on-line as well as cell phone text bidding for the live and silent auctions this year.
“It’s like having e-Bay and the Home Shopping Network meshed together,” noted Fred White of DeCristo productions.
White designed the new system that will allow people to make real-time bids. Each time a bid is made it is instantaneously sent in text form to all of those individuals who are interested in the item.
People will be able to register on-line or via cell phone or by dropping by the club where there will be six kiosks available for them to set up accounts. There will be trained volunteers on hand to assist them.
Even those just interested in the silent auction will have a different experience. Instead of just writing down bids on sheets, they will be registered at a computer kiosk and given bar code based on the information they provide for the bidding process. That is then placed on a bidding pamphlet that allows the use of scanners to make bids on items.
Halford noted that those people who are comfortable with the old process of calling in bids while watching on TV are still able to do so.
This is the first time in 31 years the telethon is not taking place the week of Thanksgiving.
Halford noted the switch to an earlier date is in response to community changes. Manteca Unified schools in the last several years have scheduled the entire week off prompting many people to plan family vacations. Also a growing number of employers - including the City of Manteca and high-tech firms - are furloughing workers that week which in turn prompts many who have helped volunteer in the past to schedule other things.
For those who wish to help secure auction items or help with other aspects of the telethon contact the Boys & Girls Club at 239-KIDS.
