Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 24, 1994                   TAG: 9501180005
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: E12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AROUND TOWN

The Mental Health Association of Roanoke Valley has begun its annual Operation Santa Claus.

This program supplies gifts for nearly 700 Roanoke Valley residents with mental disabilities who live in area homes for adults or are patients at Catawba Hospital and Roanoke Memorial Rehabilitation Center. Many of these people have no family and live on supplemental security income or Social Security Disability income, according to the Mental Health Association.

Contributors may send cash donations by Dec. 9 to the association at P.O. Box 592, Roanoke, 24004. The money will be used to purchase gifts from a gift list put together by area homes and hospitals and the association. Make checks payable to the Mental Health Association of Roanoke Valley.

Contributors may also select items from the gift list and bring them to one of the following locations through Dec. 9: Blue Ridge Community Services; Boone and Company Realtors; Crestar Bank at Cave Spring Corners, Hollins and Towers; or the Jefferson Center.

Items on the gift list for women are: dresses, blouses, slips, nightgowns, handbags, knee high hose and knee socks. Items needed for men are: shirts, pajamas, T-shirts, caps with bills, socks, flashlights and batteries. Items needed for both men and women are: brushes and combs, gloves,toiletries, stationary and stamps, sweaters and underwear.

For more information, call the association at 344-0931.

Salem VDOT workers receive state award

The Virginia Department of Transportation's Salem district has announced the names of 29 employees who were honored with the Commissioner's Award for Excellence.

The annual award recognizes dedication and effectiveness on the job. Winners are selected by Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner David R. Gehr.

The Salem team of employees was awarded for its' ability to devise contract proposals for additional funding from VDOT's central office in Richmond. According the the department, the team worked overtime, seven days a week to complete the proposals. Many gave up holiday activities, while others worked snow-removal shifts, then returned to the office to work on the proposals.

As a result, nine contracts totaling $8.2 million were submitted to Richmond before the required deadline. The Salem district received 36 percent of the entire state allocation.

Award recipients are: Mike Azar, Emilee Boyd, Bob Brown, Sharon Brown, Tom Cunningham, Kimberly Dooley, Willie Hutchinson, Ron Rice, Ken Ralph, John Peery, Jim Keene, Larry Long, Sam Overstreet, Craig Manges, Donnie Robertson, Robert King, Luther Galyean, David Light, Cindy Mitchell, Robert Perdue, Ginger Quinn, Kenny Reynolds, Gary Thompson, Jerry Webb, Jackie Williams, Ed Wright, Bobby Cockram, Eddie Wallace and Bob Yates.