SAN CLEMENTE : Fund-Raiser to Aid Critically Ill Boy

An upcoming clay pigeon shoot sponsored by the local Elks Club is the latest in a series of unusual fund-raisers that have yielded at least $8,000 for a 6-year-old boy with a kidney disorder that requires expensive treatment.

The shoot on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Skeet and Trap Range, 600 Calle Bahia, benefits Christopher Carter, the son of San Clemente Police Officer Jeff Carter. Christopher has a rare disease that causes kidney failure and requires him to receive round-the-clock dialysis and expensive medications.

Because his medical costs are upward of $4,000 per month and his father’s insurance covers only 80% of those costs, the Police Department has appealed to the community for help.

Over the past two months, a chicken wing-eating contest sponsored by a local Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise raised $6,000, while students in an English class at San Clemente High School drummed up $2,300 in donations from their neighborhoods and classmates. Proceeds from a recent football game between local police and San Clemente High School teachers have not been tallied.

The Elks Club plans to charge $1 more than the standard price to shoot a round of 25 clay targets, and is donating all profits to the Carter family. In addition, the City Council has agreed to give the family proceeds from a 1-cent charge it levies on each clay target, a total of about $60 from an estimated 6,000 targets used in a day.

The San Clemente Elks Club will also hold a dinner-dance to raise funds for Carter at 3 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Elks Lodge, 1505 N. El Camino Real. A Mexican buffet will be served at $10 per person.