LATE SURGE EXPECTED AT HANDS EVENT

What if you gave a party and everyone came?

That’s just what the organizers of the Hands Across America fund-raiser expect--an avalanche of millions of people rushing to find places in the coast-to-coast line days or even hours before the Memorial Day spectacle is scheduled to begin.

Organizers of the effort to raise funds for America’s hungry and homeless have acknowledged that they still need at least 5 million more hand-holders to form the transcontinental human chain. That shortfall worries them far less than how they will handle millions of requests to join the line in the 24 days before the May 25 event.

Ticketmaster Corp. has come up with a proposed solution to handle what organizers believe will be Hands Across America’s final hurdle: too many people seeking a place in line at the last minute.

The Los Angeles-based ticket brokerage firm will offer the services of its 600 ticket outlets across the nation to assign people a place along the 4,100-mile-long route in exchange for a $10, $25 or $35 contribution to the Hands Across America effort. In the charitable spirit of Hands Across America, Ticketmaster is taking individual pledges at a reduced per-ticket handling fee of 50 cents rather than its normal charge of $1 to $1.50 per ticket.

“We were looking for a system that would give us instantaneous turn-around,” in taking new pledges, said USA for Africa Foundation President Ken Kragen, the driving force behind Hands Across America.

So far, about 600,000 individuals have actually made pledges for a place in line. That number amounts to about 11% of the 5.48 million people the organizers now say will be needed to span the country. Corporate donors have given $425,000 to secure another 300,000 places in line, organizers said. The corporations will select the hand-holders from among their employees and their families.

Fredric D. Rosen, Ticketmaster chairman of the board and chief executive officer, said his firm, which has 97 outlets in the Los Angeles area, will give pledge-makers both a ticket and a redeemable coupon for premiums.

The ticket will specify where a pledge-maker is to stand in line. The coupon will indicate what souvenirs pledge-makers are entitled to. Pledge premiums range from certificates of participation for a minimum $10 donation to Hands Across America T-shirts, a certificate and a portable radio for the $35 pledge.

Besides the Hands Across America toll-free number (800-USA-9000), Ticketmaster has dedicated two telephone lines through which pledges may also be made: (213) 480-3232 and (714) 740-2000.

Ticketmaster, which gave more than $25,000 to last year’s Farm Aid fund-raising effort, will make an even larger contribution to Hands Across America, Rosen said.

Estimates of how much money the event may bring in have been lowered from $100 million to $50 million, Kragen said.

Marty Rogol, USA for Africa’s executive director, said Hands Across America will distribute 60% of the Hand Across America revenue to organizations involved in caring for the emergency needs of the homeless and hungry. The remainder will fund venture-capital projects designed to provide long-term solutions to help the needy provide for themselves, he said.

A minimum of one-third of the funds earmarked for emergency relief should be distributed by Sept. 1, he said.