
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994                    TAG: 9406160449 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A16    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940616                                 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH

DONATED FANS OFFER COOL RELIEF TO ELDERLY IN HAMPTON ROADS

{LEAD} It was as though the yellow house had somehow absorbed and concentrated all the heat of the 94-degree day inside its tiny, cluttered living room.

All the windows were closed, stuck shut by years of paint and dirt. The storm door was glass, not mesh. The back door stood open, but the wisps of air it let into the steamy house did little to relieve the stifling atmosphere.

{REST} Nora Person, 88, was used to it. She'd lived here more than 30 years. At one time, the window air conditioner had worked, but now it just blew hot air. On her limited income, she had no money to get it fixed or even to buy a fan.

And then the summertime Santa Claus arrived, in the guise of Stacy Kirklin, senior services case manager for SEVAMP - the Southeastern Virginia Areawide Model Program. Kirklin lugged a brand-new fan, still in its box, from her car. She plugged it in and turned it on high, letting a great whoosh of cooling air into the room.

``Oh my, oh my,'' cried Person, as she felt the first breezes flow over her thin body. ``Whoo, whoo, whoo, ain't that nice. It's so good. It feels so nice. Isn't that something. Oh my.''

Person was the first of 483 Hampton Roads residents over 60 who will receive electric fans this summer, courtesy of Fan Care, a 4-year-old program sponsored by Virginia Power and the Virginia Department for the Aging.

Virginia Power donated $27,500 to Fan Care this year to buy fans for people who need them and who meet income guidelines.

The program focuses on older people because they are particularly susceptible to the heat.

``Older people lose some of their ability to ward off the undesirable affects of overheating,'' said Dr. John Franklin, director of geriatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School. ``They don't sweat as readily, they often don't know they're getting overheated, they frequently don't have a thirst mechanism to replace their fluids adequately, leading to dehydration.''

Just having the air circulating improves the evaporation of sweat, he said, which lowers the body's temperature.

But many elderly are afraid to even open their windows, said Cathy M. Spriggs, community service director for SEVAMP, because they live in high-crime areas. ``So they have no air circulating and many depend on our fans.''

Last year, SEVAMP distributed 384 fans but had requests for more. This year, thanks in part to an additional $5,000 in other donations, it was able to buy nearly 100 more.

``It makes me feel good, like a day's job has been done,'' Kirklin said as she watched Person sitting on a red kitchen chair directly in front of the fan's cooling breezes.

``I'm so happy, I'm so glad,'' Person sang, standing up and beginning to rock back and forth in front of the fan. ``I'm so, so happy that I can't sit down.''

Anyone can make a tax-deductible contribution to Fan Care. Just write a check for any amount made payable to either SEVAMP or the Peninsula Agency on Aging (depending on where you live).

by CNB