Every year, Gallifrey One spends half our Sunday raising money for a good cause. Our convention's annual Bob May Memorial Charity Auction has raised over $80,000 for charity over the years for some very worthy causes, including the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death, the Downs Syndrome Association, the American Red Cross, the Dyslexia Scholarship Fund, the Hurricane Mitch Disaster Relief Fund, the War Child Charity, the Afghan Women's Mission, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Association, the Starlight/Starbright Foundation, the American Heart Association, Actors and Others For Animals, the American Cancer Society, Direct Relief International, and last year's Pet Orphans of Southern California.

For 2012, Gallifrey One is pleased to announce that we have selected Students Run LA as our target charity for the auction at the forthcoming Gallifrey 2012 convention. Students Run LA (SRLA) is a school-based mentoring and physical fitness program for at-risk middle and high school students in the Los Angeles area. The mission of Students Run LA is to challenge these students to experience the benefits of goal setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing experience: The training for and completion of the Honda Los Angeles Marathon. Students who participate in SRLA learn to set and achieve goals, make new friends and become part of a team, and gain leadership skills. Established as an independent organization in 1993, Students Run LA has been a mainstay at the Los Angeles Marathon each year, with great success. In March 2011, 97% of the 2780 SRLA runners completed the Marathon. In June 2011, 97% of the 532 SRLA seniors who completed the marathon with SRLA graduated from high school and 97% of them planned to go to college or university in September 2011. You can find out many more details about SRLA by visiting their website, srla.org.

After many years of supporting different charitable groups for medical research, disaster relief and pet rescue, Gallifrey One's board of directors this year decided to do something a bit different: since the average age of our convention has been increasingly younger due to the strong support Doctor Who now receives from young fans, we wanted to reach out and support a charity dedicated to youth activities in the Los Angeles area. Students Run LA focuses directly on our community, and enjoys a very high success rate -- not to mention, the money donated goes directly to benefit the students (students do not pay to participate in Students Run LA; the costs to support a student in the program are covered by their fundraising.) We are thrilled to support SRLA as our charity for 2012.

Since 2009, our annual charity event has been named in honor of our late friend Bob May, best known for playing the Robot on the 1960s television series Lost in Space as well as for many years a participant in the Gallifrey One conventions as a program guest, dealer and auctioneer. Our annual charity auction is now perpetually dedicated to Bob May's memory, with the gracious support of Bob's wife Judy and daughter Deborah; 2012 will be the fourth year (of many more to come!) featuring Bob's name on the event and donated in his name to the charity.

We are proud to say that 100% of the proceeds of the charity auction go directly to the charity.

The 2012 Bob May Memorial Charity Auction will once again take place on Sunday starting at noon. Auction donations are readily accepted at our convention all weekend! Science fiction merchandise and memorabilia of any kind, both new and collectible, are welcome. You can stop by the convention office during the weekend to donate any merchandise; you will receive a statement for your donation.

Donations to Auction

We are, as always, looking for items to be donated to this year's charity benefit auction. Upon arrival, please drop off any materials you would like to donate to the Convention Office.

What are we looking for? In short: donations of science fiction, fantasy, comics, horror or genre related material, most especially Doctor Who and its spinoffs. This includes genres such as Torchwood, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Prisoner, Blake's 7, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Stargate SG-1/Atlantis/Universe, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Red Dwarf, anything related to science fiction film and television, SF/fantasy literature, comic books, or collectibles. Anything that has a tangential relationship to the SF/fantasy/horror genre which is in at least very good condition. Autographed photos, commemorative items, one-time prints, illustrations, etc. are also welcome. If you find it to be a valuable collectible, chances are good that others will, too. Just be sure: this is not a disposal service for items you wish to throw away!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us.