THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995               TAG: 9503300425
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Short :   23 lines

DROP IN DONATIONS FORCES USO TO CLOSE 2 CENTERS

Declining donations have prompted the United Services Organization to close two overseas centers and trim management, officials said Wednesday. The organization's center in Paris may be shut next.

USO centers in Manama, Bahrain, and Toulon, France, were being closed immediately and the organization was asking supporters in Paris to save that office, USO President Chapman Cox said.

The organization, formed during World War II, is funded by private and corporate donations, and large charities such as the United Way. It provides entertainment and social services to troops stationed abroad. by CNB