Raffle Me Elmo To Benefit Crisis Nursery

FOR THE RECORD (December 24, 1996): Correction: The Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery provides emergency respite care for children. Stories published Thursday and Friday misstated the facility’s mission.

Managers of the Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby Shop at University City Shopping Center thought the store had sold all 24 of its Tickle Me Elmo dolls over the busy Thanksgiving weekend.

But beneath a pile of empty boxes in a corner of the toy store’s back room, employees last week discovered one more Elmo doll.

“It’s the last one in Spokane,” assistant manager Josh Ludwig said.

But rather than jack up the price of this Christmas season’s must-have toy and sell it to the sugar daddy with the fattest wallet - scalpers have demanded upward of $350 for Elmo dolls advertised in The Spokesman-Review classified section - the store has decided on a raffle, with the proceeds donated to the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.

“What else could we do?” Ludwig asked. “After all, it’s Christmas.”

Not that it wasn’t tempting to just sell the doll, which had retailed at Kay-Bee for $35.99, to the highest bidder. Ludwig claims one woman called after learning the store still had an Elmo doll and offered “something like $7,000.”

But Kay-Bee wouldn’t budge.

The only way anyone will get this too-cute doll - “You press his little belly, and he goes nuts,” Ludwig said - is by buying a raffle ticket. So far, the store has sold about 700 tickets for $1 each.

“Kay-Bee basically just called and told us they wanted this last doll to mean something,” said Kelly McPhee of the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.

The crisis nursery, founded in 1987, provides a safe haven for children from abusive homes, as well as offers crisis counseling and parenting support classes.

McPhee is grateful to Kay-Bee for its offer.

“I would just encourage people who are spending the holidays with their families in a happy setting to think about others who may be struggling,” she said. “If they come across a way to help other people out - whether it’s donating to Toys for Tots, getting involved in the Kay-Bee raffle, or just lending an ear to somebody who’s struggling - all those things help.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: RAFFLE The drawing for the Elmo doll will take place at 10 a.m. Monday at the Kay-Bee store at U-City.