THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610240138
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY NEWSOME, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 63 lines
Getting lost in Pungo is easy, as some people will probably discover Saturday.
The fourth annual Children's Resources Road Rallye will send teams driving through the city's rural regions to raise funds for the children served by the Tidewater Regional Group Home Commission. Four of the commission's six homes for children 13 to 17 are in Virginia Beach.
The commission was formed in the late 1970s when the region's social services agencies consolidated programs for adolescents. Its homes and non-residential programs receive some state and local funding, but not enough for many of the programs designed to return the children to their families.
Katy Sommers, executive director of Children's Resources, said most of the children are referred to the commission by local juvenile and domestic courts and social service agencies, which provide per diem fees for each child. ``But look at the home off Laskin Road,'' she said. ``It regularly holds 15 children and that leaves only $500 per year for a recreation budget.''
Money raised by Children's Resources allowed those children to attend programs like Outward Bound, which build confidence and teamwork through a series of challenges. Other funds went to capital improvements, she said, such as an expansion to the Crisis Intervention Home on 15th Street and for computers to supplement the children's education.
Sommers said more money is needed because all of the facilities, which normally hold 12 to 18 children, are consistently running over capacity.
``We're also seeing children staying in the facilities for longer and longer time. The normal stay used to be about six months, but now children aren't going back to their families for nine months to a year.''
Problems preventing their return home are sometimes economic or involve the pressures of military life or single parent homes. However, Sommers said referrals from the courts affect families across all social groups and no one factor can be blamed for the longer stays.
``It's hard enough to be growing up these days,'' she said, ``and with all that these kids are exposed to, a lot of them are falling through the cracks.''
Children's Resources hopes to fill some of those cracks with money raised from the rally.
Rallys normally involve teams of drivers and navigators competing against each other for the best time to a destination. Organizers are making the event more accessible by changing the focus from time to something of a scavenger hunt.
Teams will leave Brewer's East Inn on North Landing Road armed with a list of 96 questions. Many of the questions are riddles teams must answer to find their direction, and without those directions, the other clues are lost.
Registration fees also provide T-shirts for competitors and an after-race party at Brewer's East Inn. Local drag racer Donna Duncan will have her alcohol-fueled ``funny car'' on hand to start the race.
A road rally may not be traditional, but Sommers said, ``these days it seems like there's a fund-raiser for every cause imaginable.'' She hopes the competitive angle will increase participation from an average of 25 teams in past years to about 50 teams this Saturday. MEMO: Registration begins Saturday at 12:45 p.m. outside Brewer's East
Inn, 2484 North Landing Road, with the race starting at 1:30.
Registration is $35 per driver and $9 for each additional passenger over
10. Donations also cover T-shirts for participants and a post-race party
at Brewer's East Inn. Teams can call 547-9288 for more information. by CNB