Some 240 volunteers are expected to call community members Monday and Tuesday in a bid to raise $120,000 for the Manteca/Lathrop Boys & Girls Club.

They are part of the 35th annual Boys & Girls Telethon that also includes entertainment as well as silent and live auctions. The telethon can be viewed Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. and Tuesday from 5 to 10 p.m. on Comcast Channel 97 or by dropping by the clubhouse at 545 W. Alameda St.

Manteca Fire Chief Kirk Waters, alumnus of the San Mateo Boys Club and board member for the Manteca-Lathrop club, is coordinating the phone bank.   Waters credits the Boys Club for keeping him on the right path growing up. Waters still needs help filling phone spots. If you’d like to help with the pledge phones contact Waters at 456-8300.

Volunteer groups manning the phones Monday include Doctors Hospital of Manteca, Manteca Police Seniors Helping Area Residents and Police, Starbucks, Lathrop Chamber of Commerce, Manteca Chamber of Commerce, Manteca Interact, and His Way Recovery.

Helping on the phones Tuesday are Women of Woodbridge, Calvary Community Church, Del Webb at Woodbridge Men’s Club, Manteca Kiwanis, Building Industry of the Delta, His Way Recovery, the Place of Refuge, Manteca Soroptimists, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Worship Center, and Manteca Youth Focus.

The telethon consists of four components: volunteers manning phones to call individuals and businesses for pledges, entertainment, a live auction, and a silent auction. 

The entertainment consists of local groups ranging from singers and bands to dance groups. 

The telethon has been a Manteca Thanksgiving week tradition for 35 years.

The telethon is the major fundraiser for the club that provides a safe haven for 1,500 youth from ages 6 to 17. Since its inception, the telethon has raised in excess of $2.5 million over the course of 35 years.