DATE: Monday, September 15, 1997            TAG: 9709150073

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   74 lines

JOY COMES YEAR-ROUND TO CHILDREN WITH AIDS THE ROLE OF VOLUNTEERS AT CANDII.

Hugh Hoffman has shed many a tear over the passing of children afflicted with AIDS, whom he came to love through his hands-on volunteer work at Norfolk's CANDII House.

And Bill Dougherty, who readily admits he wouldn't be able to handle working one-on-one with the youngsters, is helping out in another way: For the second year in a row, he's throwing a posh dinner party next month to raise money for the organization that helps children stricken with the fatal disease.

The two Virginia Beach men have taken very different approaches to helping others, and their examples show that reaching out can take many paths.

Two days a week, Hoffman, who's retired from the Navy, gets down on the floor and romps with children at the Granby Street facility run by the Children's

AIDS Network Designed for Interfaith Involvement.

One recent day, he sat cross-legged at child level and blew bubbles for four pre-school youngsters at CANDII House. One of them, a boy of 4, was so excited about chasing the iridescent globes that he flung himself into Hoffman's arms and gave him a big hug.

Hoffman also drives a red truck and gives to charity the money he makes from impersonating old St. Nick during the holidays. He also volunteers to work with children at two local hospitals.

Dougherty wanted to help children with AIDS, too, so the florist decided to replay last year's First International Potluck Dinner, through which he raised some $6,000 for CANDII.

And he hopes to double that amount at the Oct. 25 ``Magical Evening'' to take place in the Japanese-American garden of his Lynnwood home.

Attendees of the invitation-only party will pay $30 each and bring an ethnic dish to share. Local businesses donated the settings, including fine china and linens and an electric harvest moon. Professional models will serve guests.

Businesses also donated items for an auction that will be held after dinner. Last year, Dougherty enlisted the help of 17 of his business peers, and this year the number will more than double.

CANDII, with another facility in Hampton, has served more than 200 AIDS and HIV afflicted children and their families over the past seven years. Sixteen of those children have died.

``These are children that, with the exception of periods of illness, are active and want to have a good time like any other child,'' says Sarah McCaskill, administrative assistant for CANDII. Services include counseling for the children and their families, playgroups and a buddy program that boasts 40 ``pairs'' of children and volunteer adults.

The program is supported by 75 volunteers and a full-time staff of 12.

CANDII is a designated United Way agency, which means that money collected through the annual United Way campaign does not go to CANDII unless specified by the donor. The organization currently serves about 100 children and their families and operates on about $400,000 a year. Last year, some $77,000 came to CANDII through United Way.

United Way of South Hampton Roads' fund-raiser is now under way. To date, $2,159,283 of this year's $15.5 million goal has been raised.

According to statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 63 cases of childhood AIDS and 48 with HIV in Virginia's eastern region through June of this year. Statewide, 160 youngsters have had AIDS; 109 have had HIV.

Nationally, through December of last year, a total of 7,629 children have developed AIDS, and 4,406 have died.

For more information on CANDII House, call 640-0929. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Hugh Hoffman of Virginia Beach spends two days a week at the CANDII

House with children who have HIV or AIDS. More than 200 children

are helped by the Norfolk charity and its affiliate in Hampton. KEYWORDS: UNITED WAY CANDII HOUSE

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