The Mission Beach Woman’s Club (MBWC) has chosen the Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol (RSVP) that supports sworn police officers as its 2011 fundraiser beneficiary, paving the way for a special benefit event on Saturday, March 26. With the goal of raising enough funds to purchase a new license-plate reader to be used exclusively by RSVP members, the woman’s club is focusing on safety and crime prevention as this year’s initiative. “RSVP is an active partner of the San Diego Police Department,” said Sue de Boer, assistant administrator of the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Northern Division’s RSVP. “They conduct routine, non-confrontational police activities so that sworn officers can concentrate on crime fighting.” The license-plate reader that the Mission Beach Woman’s Club hopes to purchase will allow RSVP members to scan between 500 to 1,000 license plates every hour, relieving sworn officers from having to call in plates individually in search of stolen vehicles and suspects on the lam. Mounted on an RSVP vehicle, the device will search for stolen cars or license plates and outstanding bench warrants within a federal database, which would then be called in to the local police branch. “Our hope is to dissuade criminals from committing crimes in our area,” said de Boer, who is also a board member of the Mission Beach Woman’s Club. The Northern Division covers the areas of Bay Ho, Bay Park, Clairemont, La Jolla, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Torrey Pines and University City. “RSVP is really a great program,” said Northern Division Capt. Al Guaderrama. “They are wonderful people who love giving back to their community.” With hopes of replacing RSVP’s broken license-plate reader, the MBWC plans to host its seventh annual silent auction fundraiser on March 26 from 3 to 6 p.m. at The Pennant in South Mission Beach, located at 2893 Mission Blvd. There is free admission and the fundraiser is open to the public. The event will feature merchandise donated by local retailers for auction, as well as activities and games for participants. The Mission Beach Woman’s Club is a nonprofit organization, investing all of its profits back into the community. With more than 100 active members, the club selects various beneficiaries within the community each year, including the Santa Clara Recreation Center, Beach Area Women’s Health Center, San Diego Junior Lifeguard Program and others. Along with community service and charitable donations, club members engage in interactive social programs and educational enrichment. To become a member of the RSVP, one must be 50 years old or older and semi- or fully retired, pass a background check, attend a one-week indoctrination at the police academy, and ride along with sworn officers before being given assignments. There are more than 450 RSVP members within the various divisions of the SDPD and about 45 members in the Northern Division alone. For more information, call (858) 552-1737, or e-mail [email protected].