FUND-RAISER FOR PROJECT CHARLIE TAKES CASUAL FORM

The Excelsior Springs Optimist Club has taken over Cape Girardeau's Project CHARLIE program, part of a nationwide effort to educate children about drugs and alcohol.

Janah Jateff of the Excelsior Springs Optimist Club said that the club's goal is to "raise some funds and to renew some interest in Project CHARLIE."

Two club members thought up the plan to fulfill the first part of that goal, said Jateff.

Susan Gentry and Terri Heisserer, both Boatmen's Bank employees, built on the bank's practice of holding "casual days," in which employees paid $1 for permission to wear casual clothes to work. The money collected was then donated to charity.

Several other Optimist club members transformed the original idea into a citywide effort. Every bank in Cape Girardeau to sponsor a casual day on Friday with the money going to Project CHARLIE. The club will also accept any other donations.

Funds will be used to buy materials including Project CHARLIE manuals and a project newsletter and a pay for volunteers to travel to Minnesota for a training session.

"Casual days are always a big help for organizations that really need the money," said Kelly Faircloth, a Boatmen's Bank employee and Excelsior Springs Optimist member. "And usually, when they have an opportunity, all the bank employees -- even the top executives -- exercise their freedom to wear jeans."

The club hopes this Friday will prove as lucrative as past casual days.

"Sometimes we collect around $250, and it's unusual for a Boatmen's employee not to participate," said Faircloth.