Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993 TAG: 9307270172
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short
The 97 students, teachers, lawyers and politicians volunteered for six hours last week to help open President Clinton's constituent mail and choose the most appropriate of several form letters to respond to the letters.
And Clinton needs the help.
The White House offices are backlogged with mail, some of them dating to December 1992. And it's still coming.
Clinton receives an average of 36,000-40,000 pieces of mail daily, and has gotten as many as 80,000, said Lori Abrams, executive administrator for presidential messages.
"Since this president took office, we've had more than 5 million pieces of mail," she said.
The Portsmouth volunteers broke into small groups to spend part of Thursday in rooms flooded with boxes of mail. They doled out thousands of responses to children, thanking them for their ideas, concerns, suggestions and artwork.
Volunteers were instructed to set aside the more serious letters for further review.
Every letter, no matter how simple or ornate, is guaranteed a response, Abrams said.
These guaranteed responses aren't easy to get out. Abrams estimated the Portsmouth group opened and replied to more than 6,000 letters.
"We have 200 regular volunteers in correspondence, but we couldn't do our jobs without the support of people like the ones in Portsmouth," said Claude Taylor, director of White House volunteers.
by CNB