Thief takes donations from Galt Lions Club

Jim Ferguson was manning a Lions Club donation table outside Raley's in Galt on Saturday, chatting with customers and thanking those who gave money to the club's White Cane Week program.

All funds collected during the week go to help buy glasses for about 50 local needy children. By 3:15 p.m. Saturday, various Lions Club members had been sitting outside the Twin Cities Road store for most of the day.

"This man came out of the store, stopped in front of me and started to ask questions about what we did. So I started to explain it," Ferguson said Tuesday. "And then all of a sudden he grabbed the jar and ran."

Ferguson chased after the man, going so far as to try to hold the door open of the man's old, white BMW. When the car took off, Ferguson let go.

The jar, with the day's donations, was gone.

"It's kind of a sad tale, but it kind of had a happy ending," Ferguson said.

The sad part of the tale is that the suspect got away with the jar, which Lions members estimate had perhaps $100 to $200 in it.

But the better part of the tale is that Wayne Swartz, a bartender at Galt's Zacateca's restaurant, saw the end of the incident as he emerged from the grocery store.

"I was pretty mad at the time it happened. The guy sat out there for hours, and they took his whole jar," Swartz said.

Without saying anything, he went back into Raley's to use an ATM. He emerged and gave the Lions Club members $100 in cash.

The club members were thrilled, though Swartz wasn't expecting any recognition.

"I didn't do this for any publicity," the Lodi resident said.

Galt's Lions Club has had its share of woes.

In July, vandals caused $10,000 worth of damage when they tried to use a cutting torch to break into a fireworks shed not far from where Saturday's incident happened.

The Galt Lions Club's vision program

The club raises money to help buy eyeglasses for local children. They get referrals from school counselors, teachers and South County Services, said club member Reuven Epstein.
October is the international Lions' White Cane Week, so Galt's club raises money locally during the month.
The club gets eyeglass frames at cost, and Dr. Ronald Oye performs examinations as a donation. The club can help about 40 to 50 needy children each year.
The club also tries to help those with other vision problems, such as cataracts, by working with the Northern California Lions Sight Association, based in Sacramento.
Donations to the club may be sent to P.O. Box 506, Galt, CA, 95632.
— News-Sentinel staff.

The box didn't fully catch fire, but it smoldered long enough to damage the entire supply of fireworks, which the Lions Club sells as a fund-raiser.

And last year someone passed a fake $100 bill while paying for fireworks.

Club member Reuven Epstein calls it a "$105 bill," because it had Abraham Lincoln's face on one side and Benjamin Franklin's face on the other.

"We are the hard luck Lions Club of the area," Epstein quipped.

Though Epstein has a sense of humor, he also is concerned that someone could be hurt. Ferguson, a past-president of the club, was not injured because he chose not to hold onto the car as it sped away from the scene.

Lions members and Galt Police Sgt. Chuck Dedriksen said the suspect was driving an old white BMW with no rear license plate. The right rear window had been broken out and covered with black tape.

Swartz said the suspect had previously been inside Raley's, asking for directions to North Highlands, past Sacramento. He described the suspect as in his early 20s, wearing a hat, black coat and white shirt. Swartz said a female was also in the car, and that the suspect nearly struck some pedestrians as he sped out of the parking lot.

Saturday's incident won't keep Lions from continuing in their mission, Epstein said.

However, he is thinking of ways to theft-proof the donation box. His current idea is to partially fill a five-gallon bucket with enough concrete to weigh it down.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Comments on this story are now closed.

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes