Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 11, 1994                   TAG: 9406170132
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

POLICE OFFICERS CARRY A TORCH FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS

They ran through Roanoke's streets to U.S. 460 in grueling heat.

They ran from Wytheville to Lynchburg - dozens of officers who participated in the annual Virginia Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

For the past nine years, officers from Pulaski County to Lynchburg have run to raise money to help send athletes to the sporting event for mentally handicapped people.

These officers expect to raise close to $13,300 for this year's games, which began at the University of Richmond on Friday and close tonight. More than $225,000 is expected to be raised by officers across the state.

"Being in police work, you deal with the worst 3 percent of society," said Roanoke Major Robert D. Shields, who coordinated this region's police officers. "But being involved with this has put me in touch with the best people I could have worked with."

Shields said the Special Olympics organization has become one of the main charities that law enforcement agencies support nationally through the torch runs. To raise funds, corporate sponsors lend support to the run, and the officers sell candy and T-shirts.

Started by a Wichita, Kan., police chief 13 years ago, the run was a way for officers to get involved with their community in a different way, said Roy Zeidman, director of marketing and development for the state. He works with law enforcement agencies to organize the statewide event.

"In law enforcement, everything is related to the protection of the community," Zeidman said. "But this is a way for the officers to step away from that and to get involved with the community because they want to be part of it."

In Virginia, more than 3,100 law enforcement officials ran this year, making it one of the largest runs in the country and one of the top fund-raisers of its kind in the nation for Special Olympics.

The torch run covers more than 1,600 miles and brings the torch in a relay through 12 points in the state to Richmond, where the Special Olympic flame was lit Friday night. The Roanoke Valley stage of the run took place Wednesday.

"You like being part of a special event that does a lot of good for special children," said Lt. Stacey Clark, who coordinated 15 officers from the Salem police department for the run.

Roanoke Detective Bobby Harman said he missed his opportunity to be involved with the torch run this year, but has been a part of it in the past. His connection to the event is personal because his 3-year-old daughter has Down syndrome.

She's rambunctious and will one day need a place to play that out, he said. Having an event like Special Olympics will give her that opportunity.

"I want her to feel proud about herself and her differences," he said. "And to enter her into something like this, it would make her feel good about herself."