On March 9, two dozen Fresno City College student organizations collected $7,798.91 for the Children’s Hospital Central California by participating in Kids Day. Established in 1988, Kids Day is an annual event devoted to raising money for the hospital.

According to Janice Wong, a college center assistant from student activities, the college’s Police Academy raised $1,823.31 to claim the top-seller spot.

Club representatives met on campus to pick up bundles of a special edition of The Fresno Bee. Volunteers then sold the newspapers from the street corners and medians of intersections near the campus. More than 5,000 volunteers across the central San Joaquin Valley did the same. Hospital spokesperson Micheline Golden said volunteers this year raised $435,000.

This year, Kids Day was part of “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” – a program that rewards volunteers from eligible events with a free pass into one of the Disney theme parks. The program impacted this year’s volunteer registration, Golden said, adding that the number of participants could have been even higher from additional unregistered volunteers.

While many of the clubs staked out intersections and organized their members independently, Jumpstart, a work-study program, invited members from other clubs to work the intersection of North Blackstone Avenue and East Clinton Avenue. 16 Jumpstart members and 30 members from six other clubs covered the corner.

Amanda Coy, Jumpstart site manager, said that it was a memorable sale. Their supplies were packed in a car trunk and the group was preparing to leave their corner close to 2 p.m. when a student approached them. He asked to buy a paper and paid with a $20 bill.

“We offered him his change and he said ‘No, keep it as long as it’s going to a good cause.’ It was very sweet.”