Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CNJ staff photo: Tony BullocksHailey Griego, 9, from left, Taji Holguin, 6, and Kenzie Gonzales, 9, from the Kidz for a Cure booth, sells a bracelet to George Childers of Clovis during Friday's Relay for Life event. Childers said he lost his wife six months ago to breast cancer.
"Bracelets for a dollar," the young saleswoman remarked as she whipped her pom pom sticks throughout the chilly night.
CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks
Hailey Griego, 9, from left, Taji Holguin, 6, and Kenzie Gonzales, 9, from the Kidz for a Cure booth, sells a bracelet to George Childers of Clovis during Friday's Relay for Life event. Childers said he lost his wife six months ago to breast cancer.
Still another friend intoned, "Get your bracelets." And another added, "No taxes."
That's about the time a customer, George Childers, came in. He asked how much a bracelet was. And the sales pitch started all over.
Walkers throughout the evening at Relay for Life heard at least one of the 20 grade-school girls, either at their Kidz for a Cure station or through one of their mobile salespeople.
They likely also saw the girls selling donuts, paper footprints and posters in the weeks leading up to the annual event at Ned Houk Park.
If their pitch wasn't loud enough, the haul was. Coming into the event, the girls had raised more than $6,700.
"I used to be in Charlie's Angels with my grandma," said Hailey Griego, 9, a third-grader at Lockwood Elementary and captain of Kidz for a Cure. "I knew grownups aren't the only ones who can help find a cure. Kids can too, so I wanted to try it out."
Maribel Gallegos, 11, two grades ahead of Griego, was helping out the team as well. She was back at the table after a small run through the track populated with walkers and lined by luminarias.
The table business was doing better, at least for the moment.
"We've gone out eight times," Gallegos said, "and we only made $4."
In total, Relay Chair Cathy Hess said the fundraising reached about $100,000 at the Saturday morning conclusion. The goal is $140,000 for 2012, but Hess said 10 to 20 percent more usually comes in the week or two following the relay's conclusion.
"The event was really, really wonderful," Hess said. "We were a little scared of the weather, but it turned out to be beautiful. It was a little chilly, but we had no rain."
