KIWANIS CLUB SAVES DARE AT SCHOOLS

Nonprofit group raised $50,000 to rescue

TRACY -- When state budget reductions forced Tracy Unified to cut the DARE
program at the beginning of last summer, the Kiwanis Club of Tracy vowed to
raise the $50,000 necessary to save it.

After months of hard work, the efforts of the Kiwanis Club can be described
in two words: Mission Accomplished.

"Although we were not ready to officially hand the check over, it appears
our fund-raising efforts were on track," said Dave Simpson, a Kiwanis Club
member. "We really believe this is a message from the community that they
want to see the DARE program working in our schools."

Tracy Unified Superintendent Jim Franco applauded the efforts of the
long-time service group.

"We think they all deserve community service awards for their efforts,"
Franco said. "We present those awards in our high schools to students who
put in 100 hours of community service. The Kiwanis Club deserves a 'Block T'
or 'Block W,' whichever they would prefer. They did a wonderful job."

As this era of economic woes and budget reductions continue, Franco believes
the Kiwanis Club has set the example for what the community can do for a
school district.

"They are a model for what can happen if the community gets behind a program
and supports it," he said. "Because of budget cuts, we weren't going to be
able to keep the program going. The Kiwanis believed in DARE, and they not
only talked the talk, they also walked the walk."

The Kiwanis Club centered their fund-raising efforts around a partnership
with local auto dealers. Through a combined effort that included nearly
every dealership in town, the P.T. Cruiser that the DARE officer drove was
raffled off.

"We raised over $30,000 from selling tickets for that car," Simpson said.

The money raised by the Kiwanis Club will be used to fund the DARE Program
for the 2004-05 school year. Although officially off the books, the DARE
program did continue this year in Tracy Unified.

Hayward Police Officer Steve Abercrombie has been teaching DARE classes
since July.

"When I heard it was going to get cut, I talked to the Kiwanis Club and
volunteered, it was the only way Tracy schools were going to do it," he
said.

Simpson said the Kiwanis Club will have an official "check-passing ceremony"
in the near future.

"We have also started our fund-raising efforts for next year," he said. "In
addition to the fifth-grade students, we would like to see the program
expanded to middle and high schools."