I wonder where he'll put the plaque?
Whidbey Sailor earns $2,500 for Toys for Tots
By MC2 Tucker Yates
Friday, February 22, 2008
A Whidbey Sailor will be awarded for her efforts to raise money for the Toys for Tots campaign with a plaque and a March trip to visit actor Gerard Butler, of “300” fame, in Los Angeles.
Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Erika Wolfe of Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Whidbey Island and a member of gerardbutlergals.com auctioned a figurine of Butler’s character from the 2003 movie “Timeline,” which was sold on eBay Dec. 22 for $2,500.
Wolfe’s history with Toys for Tots began in 1995 when they gave her toys for her child. She has since helped them every year.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s sorting toys in the warehouse, going out and buying toys to donate; it doesn’t matter,” said Wolfe.
“A lot of people from our fan club were doing fundraisers for various causes and I thought I could do something like that,” said Wolfe. “I took the doll and I thought it would be really cool to send the doll to other fans and try to hit all 50 states. I auctioned off the doll and all the souvenirs
For her efforts Wolfe received a Commander’s Award from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots and will be going to CUT! 2008 film festival with VIP tickets to meet Butler and give him his Commander’s Award personally.
“It’s for a good cause. I bought the doll and pitched it to the girls on the Web site and everybody wanted to volunteer. We had a schedule of dates when he would be where and if somebody had something important coming up and they would post it on the Web site, if they wanted him for that timeframe.”
Everywhere the doll went, it had journal in which people would write from the perspective of the doll about his adventures. The doll was unable to travel to the whole U.S. due to some hang-ups and near misses with intended caretakers, but still made it to 31 states and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It met with Tony Curran, who co-starred with Butler in the 2005 movie “Beowulf & Grendel” when visiting California.
“That was really cool because it was the first brush with something that might spark interest when we auction the doll,” said Wolfe. “During this whole time, I was trying to think of a way we can get the doll and the actor together, which seemed to me like a monumental feat.”
Wolfe paid for a subscription to IMDb.com to attempt to find someone who could get in contact with him while he was filming “P.S. I Love You” in New York. After following a phone trail, she got in touch with his personal assistant on the set, Dallas Alexis. They planned on getting the doll to him in New York, so Butler could take a picture with it, but the plan fell through due to the filming becoming too busy and he left New York.
Shortly after “300” came out, Wolfe realized Butler would be extremely busy and allowed the publicity to die down. She decided to give it one last shot shortly before “P.S. I Love You” was being released. She got a hold of the secretary to his publicist.
“I told her about the fundraiser and I asked if I sent information would she look into this,” said Wolfe. “She said yes, so I sent her the information in which she replied with an email back saying “send the doll and we’ll get them together.”
“What she did was really great and he mentioned the doll during his ‘P.S. I Love You’ interview,” said Wolfe. “It meant enough to him that he would mention it to the L.A. Times, which I thought was really cool.”
Butler signed the doll’s pants while with him and his publicist wrote in the journal how little Gerry got to meet big Gerry. Wolfe also sent Butler a scrapbook of pictures so he could see what the doll had been through.
The $2,500 went through to Toys for Tots Jan. 25 due to a hold period. It was a pleasant surprise for Wolfe because she got into the auction hoping to break $500.
“This was phenomenal because the doll sold for $2,500,” said Wolfe. “The reason it sold for so much is his popularity. I think the doll actually getting to him had a lot to do with it selling so much.”
All the pictures taken during the doll’s travels, his clothes, postcards, ash from Mt. Saint Helens, his journal and a scrapbook were all sent to the winning bidder. His travels included Disneyland, Wrigley Field, the home of Robert Frost, but it all began with Wolfe sending GerryUSA up in an EA-6B Prowler with Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 131.
For more information on how you can make a difference to the Toys for Tots campaign, visit their Web site at
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The Northwest Navigator