Today was the 3rd annual C.C. Sabathia Toys 4 tots drive in Vallejo, CA. C.C. was wonderful, not only signing all 12 of the photos that we brought with us, but also gave 1 Official Major League Baseball to each of the first 100 people in line to donate toys. C.C. really did a great thing for a downtrodden community. Vallejo, California has been officially bankrupt for a year now. Although the moral of the community has likely been at a low point for quite a while now, C.C. always comes back to his hometown and donates his time and money to give back to the city where he was raised. C.C. not only signed nearly 400 autographs (aproximately 200 fans showed up for the signing), but he showed up at the Toyota dealership at 10am this morning, and personally took 15 kids to the local Sports Authority, and treated those 15 wonderful kids to a $200.00 shopping spree per child. Not only did the kids have a wonderful time shopping for goodies, they were able to hang out with their hometown hero. Now that’s a Merry Christmas!
Every single year we attend the Toys 4 Tots autograph signings in the San Francisco bay area. We have been donating toys for probably 10 years now, often in exchange for an autograph. C.C. and Vallejo Toyota really know how to handle the goal of obtaining as many toys for the kids as possible. Although their policy was one autograph per person in the line, they were more than willing to accept more toys for additional autographs. In my humble opinion, thats the purpose of the toy drive is to raise as many toys as possible. After going through line once, and offering the initial gift, C.C. told many of the fans that wanted additional signatures to get back in line, and he would take care of them. Thats truely shows me that C.C. is willing to give back to the community. At some of the other Toys 4 Tots events over the last few years, it really seems that the purpose of the drive is to gain good public relations in the media, but not to raise the maximum number of toys. Just earlier this month, we attended a Oakland Raiders Toys 4 tots event in Hayward, CA. The event featured Hall of Famer Willie Brown, Richard Seymour, and Chris Johnson. Both Chris Johnson and Willie Brown were both gracious about signing any item. After Richard Seymour signed New England Patriots items for the first few fans in line, he imposed a “No Patriots items allowed” rule for the remaining fans in line. Why would it matter which item is being signed, as long as the toys are being donated to the cause? Richard even told me that I should buy a Raiders item from the team store (where the signing was being held). Is this a fundraiser for toys, or a fundraiser for the Oakland Raiders? We were in line with a family that donated over 20 toys to the toy drive, and requested that Richard Seymour sign 6 items, and they told this man that his family would have to get back in line, and that it was strictly one autograph per person, even if you donate multiple toys. I personally witnessed multiple families leaving the signing with some of the toys in hand, because the Raiders didn’t want to sign multiple autographs. Why not sign as many autographs as toys donated? Isn’t that the point of the toy drive? I understand that this decision was made by the Raiders, but the Toys 4 tots foundation was the one turning down opportunities to raise additional toys. Very surprising, considering that I saw on the local news, just that morning, that the Toys 4 Tots donations were down this year, from previous years. A real shame, when people were willing to donate.
Check out some of the photos from the C.C. Sabathia & Oakland Raiders Toys 4 Tots autograph signing sessions.
Check out my website for New York Yankees, C.C. Sabathia, and Oakland Raiders autographed treasures at:
http://www.southwestconnection-memorabilia.com/
