Fundraiser aims to help youth

The clings of quarters hitting the bottom of metal buckets filled the air at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex on Saturday as the Canyon Country Optimist Club raised money to help community children and families.

The nonprofit held various forms of auctions and ticket drawings to raise funds for projects like Safety Town Camp, a two-week period where preschoolers learn from educators how to live a safe life.

“Everything goes back to the youth of the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Norbert Moniz, the president of the Santa Clarita Optimist Foundation.

Last year, the 7th Annual Charity Quarter Auction raised about $45,000 to go towards fundraising youth-focused projects.

“We just do as much as we can to help an organization like this,” said event attendee Roni Mauldin. “It feels good.”

Mauldin has been attending the annual fundraiser for at least five years and attributes the consistency to the foundation’s hard work and helping children in the community such as foster youth.

“I’m a foster parent myself,” said Mauldin. “We just think it’s a wonderful organization and we want to help out.”

The quarter auction at the event are what attendees said kept them coming back every year.

“We like to hear the sounds of the coins hitting the metal because it reminds us of Vegas when the slot machines actually paid off,” said Vivian Lawrence.