Every year, Children’s Hospital Central California puts together Kids Day as a fundraiser for the children they are caring for. Many members of the campus community have seen or even bought a newspaper from the bright-colored volunteers selling the Fresno Bee on street corners, but FC gives students the opportunity to be one of those volunteers.
This year Tuesday, March 4 will be the 27th annual Kids Day sponsored by ABC30 and The Fresno Bee and other community organizations. Members of Student Leadership must gather at 4 a.m. and The Feather staff at 5 a.m.
Kids Day began in 1988 as a charity to support Children’s Hospital Central California, a non-profit children’s hospital and the 10th largest of its kind. In previous years, FC has raised over $1,000 towards the cause and this year the goal is for Kid’s Day to net a total of at least $485,000 city-wide.
The Kids Day paper is a special edition of The Fresno Bee that is sold for a suggested price of $1, although many buyers give a bigger donation than what is being asked for. All proceeds are returned to and benefit Children?s Hospital Central California.
Adults’ and students’ commuting routine will be broken by thousands of volunteers lining the streets and selling newspapers for the 27th Annual Kids Day. The issues feature stories and profiles of young patients at the hospital.
Kid’s Day doesn’t just offer an opportunity for FC to work together, but brings together the whole community. Last year students from schools all over Clovis and Fresno, restaurant workers, members of the police force and many others gathered on the streets to sell papers.
Junior Gabriela Siqueiros, who sold newspapers with Student Leadership last year, is excited to be involved in Kids Day again this year.
“At first, I was kind of nervous to take money from strangers driving by,” Siqueiros said. “After while we all got into it, though. It was really fun because I was with my friends and we were all delirious from waking up so early.”
Robert Foshee heads the school’s affiliation with Kids Day, as he also has a personal connection with the hospital.
“I love Children’s Hospital; my daughter had her heart surgery there, and they were amazing and they care for many children each day,” Foshee said. “This is a way to help them and I’m all for it. I’ve been involved in Kid’s day for five years. Our students love helping organizations that do good, and they love being together and doing a unique event like selling newspapers on the corner.”
Sara Peterson, ’15, who is volunteering with Student Leadership and The Feather, will be experiencing her first Kids Day on Tuesday.
“Even though I’m going to have to get up at 3 a.m. to be at the school by 4 in the morning, I’m looking forward to Kids Day,” Peterson said. “It looks like it will be fun, especially since a lot of my friends will be out selling papers with me.”
For more information on Kids Day, call Children’s Hospital at 559.353.7100. Volunteer information is on their web site at childrenscentralcal.org.
These authors can be reached via Twitter: @ivettedibarra and @chloe_mueller. Also, find The Fresno Bee on Twitter: @FresnoBee, Children’s Hospital Central California @CareForKids and ABC Channel 30 @ABC30. When tweeting about the event, please use the hashtag #KidsDay2014.
For more news, read the Feb. 28 article Jeremy Brown announced as new Superintendent.
