DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709050651

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

                                            LENGTH:   87 lines

REGION PITCHES IN FOR A DAY OF CARING

Some 1,800 folks in South Hampton Roads put on their work duds Thursday, rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to clean, paint and fix up for agencies that help others.

It was United Way of South Hampton Roads' sixth annual Day of Caring, a project that involved more than 125 companies and other organizations - including the military - and provided better than 11,000 hours of community service worth about $150,000. Employers footed the bill.

The project was co-sponsored by VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads, a liaison group that teams those who want to help with those who need it.

Lisa Johnson of Virginia Beach and Bettina Burnham of Norfolk knew they'd have happier hearts by the end of the day.

What the two Sentara Life Care volunteers didn't anticipate was thatthey would be helping someone dear to them.

When they arrived at the Dwelling Place in Norfolk, Burnham and Johnson were surprised to find they'd be sprucing up the bedroom of a friend, schoolmate and former co-worker who had taken refuge with her two young sons at the shelter for homeless families.

``I didn't know she was in this situation,'' Burnham said. ``It makes it more personal.''

The Day of Caring kicked off United Way's annual campaign, which this year seeks to raise $15.5 million to help support 68 organizations that do good things for people.

But more than 120 local organizations reaped the rewards of Thursday's volunteer hours.

In Chesapeake's old Great Bridge fire station, the fruit of volunteers' labor lay in an unruly pile 3 feet high - four doors, 30 windows, countless shutters and 2-by-4s, even a kitchen stove.

Thirty Virginia Natural Gas employees spent the day refurbishing the former fire station, now home to Chesapeake Volunteers in Youth Services Inc.

Workers stripped paint from doorways, laid a fresh coat of white paint on walls and staircases, installed new windows and doors, even gutted a moldy kitchen.

The fire station's new tenants said they appreciated the help, and one volunteer walked away with a warm glow from doing things for others.

``After this, I'll be able to put in my own windows,'' said construction worker LaShaun Rodgers.

At the Suffolk Shelter for the Homeless, Brenda Reichard, an employee of VSE Corp., didn't mind paint splatters on her hands. The fresh coat of paint would brighten the walls and the lives of families down on their luck.

``J: Juggling Jellybeans'' read the paper sign Jeannette Bridgeman was assembling at Portsmouth's Mount Hermon Elementary School.

Larry I'Anson was on his knees, painting heating units in the hallway.

``Yes, it seems to be a thankless job someone needs done,'' he said, smiling slightly, ``so it's all right.''

Meanwhile, Trina Davis of Portsmouth, who works at Heritage Bank & Trust, sat near the school's main hallway, sorting and cataloging ``math boxes,'' which contain toy clocks, calculators and dice.

``It makes me feel good to help out,'' Davis said. ``They took me on a tour, and they really do need the help.''

Especially in the library, where about 200 books and cassettes need stamps and bar codes. Cathy Shaefer and Brenda Smith, both of whom work at Heritage, were doing that job from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

``Without them, it would take me three days,'' library clerk Mary Jones said. ``It's a big help.''

At Westhaven Elementary School, representatives from the Navy drydock ship Resolute worked in the library and also became classroom assistants for a day.

Karen Just, 33, a pipe fitter and welder, answered questions not only about math but also about the Navy.

In Virginia Beach, seven women from First Virginia Bank pruned, weeded and cleaned up the outside of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters building on Greenwich Road.

Kay Jaeger knelt on the concrete curb and pulled weeds from overgrown shrubbery.

``It's nice to see where the money goes when you contribute to the United Way,'' she says. ``And see how badly they need volunteers.''

In Norfolk, behind the Dwelling Place, volunteers cleaned and organized the shelter's garage, which was overflowing with donated household goods.

Donna Dwiggins, a Sentara worker, patted her chest and said, ``It makes me feel it right here in my heart - that I made a difference in some way.'' MEMO: Staff writers Liz Szabo, Susie Stoughton, Adam Bernstein, Pam

Starr and Nancy Lewis contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

NHAT MEYER/The Virginian-Pilot

Lisa Johnson, left, and Bettina Burnham, both Sentara Life Care

Volunteers, hold rollers to paint a room at Norfolk's Dwelling

Place.

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