See the Storify of Kids Day 2013 pictures, tweets plus a video at Celebrity Corner.

See a gallery of Craig Kohlruss photos from Kids Day

From lawyers to hockey players to Hooters servers and even a police chief, thousands turned out Tuesday to raise money on Kids Day -- the 26th annual fundraiser to benefit Children's Hospital Central California.

Volunteers sold the $1 special edition of The Bee in Fresno, Madera, Kings, Merced and Mariposa counties. More than $5 million has been raised through the annual event, a joint effort of The Bee and KFSN (Channel 30.1). Last year, more than $450,000 was raised and the goal this year is $480,000, which would beat the record $470,514 raised in 2008.

Tuesday evening, hospital officials said they still were reviewing final tallies and hoped to have a total by today. The hospital estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 volunteers helped with Kids Day.

A new promotion this year encouraged giving more than $1 in the "Give $5 on the 5th" campaign. Many volunteers peddling the paper on street corners, including Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer, found the plan was working.

"Making a bunch of money out here," joked Dyer as he displayed a handful of cash including $5 bills on "Celebrity Corner" at Shaw and Blackstone avenues. The chief also was kept busy shaking the hands of drivers who bought a newspaper.

In Visalia, Savannah Navarro, 15, a sophomore who was part of the Golden West High School group selling papers, said some buyers chipped in $5 and $10. And she learned to spot which drivers will stop to buy: "They just look at you with 'eye' -- like sympathy."

Golden West students turned in $13,675.81 on Tuesday to rank as the Valley's top high school fundraiser. Sundale Elementary, a K-8 east of Tulare, was the Valley's top elementary school with $12,200 turned in.

The Fresno Monsters hockey team took over a corner at Shaw and Cedar avenues and forward Cory Kachel said the players also were having success, selling most of their papers by 8 a.m.

Fans from another sports team, the San Francisco 49ers, staked out First Street and Shaw.

Stephanie Madrigal of Clovis, a member of Niners Empire, said 200 papers were gone by 8 o'clock and they were awaiting the delivery of more. Another member, Minnie Mijangos, also of Clovis, said raising money for the hospital was just one of the volunteer efforts taken on by Niners Empire. The group also volunteers at the Holy Cross Center for Women and the Poverello House.

At Fig Garden Village at Shaw and Palm avenues, volunteers from the law firm of Lang, Richert and Patch found that some Fresnans were taking the chance on Kids Day to double-dip on their contributions. They were buying a paper and also donating blood at a nearby Central California Blood Bank vehicle, said René Lastreto II.

Hooters servers found that Blackstone and Nees Avenue was a hot corner. Corrin Lujan, who was with Brooke Alstrom and Mackenzie Morris, said the group began at 4 a.m. and by 8 their stacks of newspapers were almost gone.

The group was getting quite a few $5 donations and even some for $20.

The scenes played out for much of the day on street corners throughout the Valley. Daisy Cervantes, another Golden West sophomore, said, "It brightens up everyone's day, giving them a newspaper."