It was a set of mad dashes on the live Good Morning Sacramento television show racing through the aisles of the Grocery Outlet store on East Yosemite Avenue Friday that benefited the Manteca Boys & Girls Club.
The first heat was held shortly after 7 a.m. when TV Channel 31 feature reporter Alan Sanchez raced with his basket through the outlet store collecting food for the clubhouse pantry on West Alameda Street.
The Sanchez run was streamed live to viewers as he gathered snack items and other foods the children would eat throughout the course of their days at the Manteca facility.
One grocery store checker Sandy Gatlin was acting as the cheerleader for the television personality by chasing him and his cart down the aisles. Gatlin, who was a cheerleader in a Sonoma County High School in her teen years, kept him on the move and helped increase his pace.
“Come on Alan. Get some cookies for the boys and girls. Get the lead out Alan!” she shouted. “What is that baby? One bag of M & Ms – what’s that? Keep going. Get the Mac and Chesses. You just lost 40 seconds – come on!”
As Sanchez was running from a balloon lined starting point near the front of the store to a marked finish line, Grocery Outlet owners Steve and Debbie Tarr and their staff members gathered by the check stands watching and laughing at the hyper super shopper in action.
The TV reporter had worked up a little sweat in the process saying that he had played soccer in high school, quickly admitting he never really liked running all that much. For that very reason he took the goalie position with his soccer teams.
Sanchez had collected $196 worth of groceries for the Boys and Girls Club. The market owners presented club director Charlie Halford with an additional $100 gift certificate to make the total reach near $300.
The second empty basket was launched from the store’s starting line an hour later by Curt and Barbara Collins. They had earned their two-minute shopping spree at the recent Boys & Girls Club telethon paying $325 for the opportunity.
The couple surveyed the store’s aisles prior to beginning their live television run through the store. They pretty much knew what they wanted – meats and frozen food were on top of their list that would go into their empty freezer at home.
The Manteca couple were off and running again with the store cheerleader encouraging their timed run to the back of the store eventually grabbing up a basket and a half totaling $504 worth of merchandise.
Barbara Collins said the condiments and side dishes are easier to provide, however it’s the meat they haven’t been able to afford.
Cheeses and shredded wheat breakfast foods were also on their must-have items since that particular breakfast food is a favorite with three members of their family. She noted that in a past auction they took home half a cow – eventually tiring of too much meat on their dinner table.
The couple has two teen aged children, Stefanie, 17, and Chris, 14.
It wasn’t a holiday for them, their mother said, and they had to go to school today.
But this is like Christmas to us,” she said.
Collins said the two minutes went incredibly fast as they sped through the store with their baskets. Sanchez had his own observation of their two-minute run, “I thought she was going to blow a fuse – she was going so fast.”
The first heat was held shortly after 7 a.m. when TV Channel 31 feature reporter Alan Sanchez raced with his basket through the outlet store collecting food for the clubhouse pantry on West Alameda Street.
The Sanchez run was streamed live to viewers as he gathered snack items and other foods the children would eat throughout the course of their days at the Manteca facility.
One grocery store checker Sandy Gatlin was acting as the cheerleader for the television personality by chasing him and his cart down the aisles. Gatlin, who was a cheerleader in a Sonoma County High School in her teen years, kept him on the move and helped increase his pace.
“Come on Alan. Get some cookies for the boys and girls. Get the lead out Alan!” she shouted. “What is that baby? One bag of M & Ms – what’s that? Keep going. Get the Mac and Chesses. You just lost 40 seconds – come on!”
As Sanchez was running from a balloon lined starting point near the front of the store to a marked finish line, Grocery Outlet owners Steve and Debbie Tarr and their staff members gathered by the check stands watching and laughing at the hyper super shopper in action.
The TV reporter had worked up a little sweat in the process saying that he had played soccer in high school, quickly admitting he never really liked running all that much. For that very reason he took the goalie position with his soccer teams.
Sanchez had collected $196 worth of groceries for the Boys and Girls Club. The market owners presented club director Charlie Halford with an additional $100 gift certificate to make the total reach near $300.
The second empty basket was launched from the store’s starting line an hour later by Curt and Barbara Collins. They had earned their two-minute shopping spree at the recent Boys & Girls Club telethon paying $325 for the opportunity.
The couple surveyed the store’s aisles prior to beginning their live television run through the store. They pretty much knew what they wanted – meats and frozen food were on top of their list that would go into their empty freezer at home.
The Manteca couple were off and running again with the store cheerleader encouraging their timed run to the back of the store eventually grabbing up a basket and a half totaling $504 worth of merchandise.
Barbara Collins said the condiments and side dishes are easier to provide, however it’s the meat they haven’t been able to afford.
Cheeses and shredded wheat breakfast foods were also on their must-have items since that particular breakfast food is a favorite with three members of their family. She noted that in a past auction they took home half a cow – eventually tiring of too much meat on their dinner table.
The couple has two teen aged children, Stefanie, 17, and Chris, 14.
It wasn’t a holiday for them, their mother said, and they had to go to school today.
But this is like Christmas to us,” she said.
Collins said the two minutes went incredibly fast as they sped through the store with their baskets. Sanchez had his own observation of their two-minute run, “I thought she was going to blow a fuse – she was going so fast.”
