UPDATE: As of 3 p.m. March 31 there was $3,635 raised and more than 1,300 of the required 3,500 signatures.
People who work for a corporation that does Pledge Matching, such as Microsoft, the company will match their donation, organizers said.
If the plate is approved by the state Department of Licensing and the Washington State Legislature chooses to push the bill through, approximately $28 of every plate purchased would go to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Seattle Children’s is a 501(c)3, and all contributions are tax deductible. They are the only beneficiary, organizers said.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Mayor of the City Dump may soon get a custom Washington State license plate if Patches Pals get their way.
The J.P Patches show was the best known Northwest children's program, running on KIRO 7 from 1958 to 1981. Tens of thousands of kids who grew up in Seattle were Patches Pals, including Bill Gates, Paul Allen, former city mayors and state leaders.
Patches Pals behind J.P.'s website, which is not affiliated with KIRO 7, started the effort and crowd funding to make J.P. and his girlfriend Gertrude part of a special vanity plate. A Department of Licensing spokesman said the group had been in touch with their office "and appear to be doing everything correctly."
A minimum of 3,500 signatures are needed to make the license plates happen. The DOL also requires $7,427 to start the application process and to cover the costs of entering the new plates into the state system. Follow this link to add your digital signature for the J.P. license plate. The group is trying to raise $8,000 to account for any additional costs that may occur.
Organizers also need someone in the Washington State Legislature to sponsor legislation to make the J.P. plates a reality. This link from the DOL has additional details about the requirements.
The reason for the 3,500 signatures is to determine how many plates people are interested in purchasing, DOL spokesman David Bennett said. If one person is going to put J.P. plates on three different vehicles, it counts as three “signatures.”
The DOL was first contacted about the J.P. effort in October, Bennett said. The J.P. license plate fundraising effort raised $820 through noon March 15.
Chris Wedes, the man who played Julius Pierpont Patches, died in July 2012.
Bob Newman, who played Gertrude, Boris S. Wort, and more than a dozen other characters, is now 84 and is the only living person honored with a statue in Seattle. A statue of J.P. and Gertrude, "Late for the Interurban" by artist Kevin Pettelle, was unveiled in Fremont Aug. 17, 2008 with Wedes, Newman and thousands of Patches Pals in attendance.
Follow this link to watch a full J.P. Patches show from 1961, and go to the KIRO 7 Throwback section of the KIRO 7 Smart TV apps to see additional J.P. and Gertrude clips.
Cox Media Group
