Kidz Day raising money for Salvation Army youth program

Sixty street corners in Modesto, Turlock and Ceres were manned Tuesday for Kidz Day 2015, an annual fundraiser for the Salvation Army.

With anywhere from three to eight people selling newspapers at each intersection, volunteer coordinator Cecilia Michelini estimated that more than 250 youths and adults were out there until about 1 p.m.

They sold copies of the Salvation Army’s New Frontier Chronicle annual newspaper for $1, with nearly all proceeds going to Salvation Army youth programs in Stanislaus County. A small percentage of each dollar, perhaps 10 cents, will go to production costs, she said.

Twenty thousand copies of the Chronicle were up for sale, so when Michelini was asked early in the day about Tuesday’s fundraising goal, she said, “$20,000 would be nice.”

Volunteers were well on their way to that in the morning, with a group from Modesto Commerce Bank – working the corner of 14th and J streets – reporting steady sales and several donations of $10 to $20 for just a single copy, or no copy at all. Like newsboys of old, volunteers were waving signs and copies of the newspaper at passing motorists and pedestrians. Unlike newsboys of old, twins Claire and Emily Helm, 15-year-old students at Enochs High School, added a leg-kick dance routine to their hawking.

For 17 years, The Modesto Bee partnered with the Salvation Army for Kids’ Day, selling special-edition copies of The Bee. The Bee this year ended the partnership, so “the New Frontier Chronicle has stepped up to continue our event, now called Kidz Day,” said volunteer Pete Michelini. As always, he said, the money raised in Modesto will benefit the army’s Red Shield center in Modesto, which supports at-risk youths.

This story was originally published May 12, 2015 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Kidz Day raising money for Salvation Army youth program."