LAGUNA HILLS : Big Chip Giveaway: 16,800 Bags of Them

It has been 11 days since Gloria Godfrey was left holding the bag. To be precise, the Laguna Hills marketing director was left holding 16,800 bags--of Frito-Lay corn chips.

And on Monday, Godfrey said she will begin distributing the 1,575 pounds of chips--both Wild and Mild Ranch flavors--to charities, homeless shelters and high schools throughout the county.

Godfrey has been swept up in a time-consuming snack giveaway since she found herself left with 280 cases of chips after a promotional event for Frito-Lay in Canoga Park on Feb. 18. Corporate Promotions Inc., a Laguna Hills company that stages contests and giveaways, received permission from Frito-Lay to distribute the 16,800 remaining bags to the needy.

Godfrey then began poring through the phone book and calling charities while the boxes of chips sat stacked “floor to ceiling” in the corporate library in Laguna Hills. Her goal, she said, was to distribute the chips before their “freshness date” of April 2. Although chips are a “filler type thing” in the diet, Godfrey said the response was encouraging.

One charity would refer her to another until the list of chip-seeking groups became nearly out of control.

“I got more and more and more names and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is ridiculous,’ ” she said. “We’ve had to figure out how many each charity needs and can use.”

Godfrey will begin to be relieved of her chip burden on Monday when representatives from the charities are scheduled to pick up their ration of snacks.