The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995              TAG: 9512240009
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   43 lines

OFFICERS LIKE BEING FLOGGED FOR JOY - THE JOY FUND

Every month, the members of NATO's Supreme Allied Command Atlantic flog their officers into contributing to the Joy Fund.

It isn't as painful as it sounds.

Two Fridays a month, SACLANT Joy Fund volunteers hold a FLOG - Friday lunch officers gathering - and sell raffle tickets in the officer's mess hall. The raffle is held at the end of the meal, and winners receive baseball caps, T-shirts, posters and other odds and ends that are donated by local businesses.

``Sometimes it's stuff like silly hats and such,'' said squadron leader Gordon Bourne, who organizes the project.

``But they know it's all for a good cause - to raise money for the Joy Fund.''

The Joy Fund is a 60-year-old fund-raising campaign run by The Virginian-Pilot. Needy children are selected from a list compiled by local clergy, school principals and welfare agencies. Cash coupons are mailed to the parents of children and can be used for clothing and toys at selected stores.

SACLANT is the senior military authority for NATO's land, sea and air forces in the North Atlantic area. It is one of NATO's two major military commands and the only one in North America.

SACLANT, which is based in Norfolk, began the FLOGs two years ago to supplement the office-to-office contributions it solicited. The FLOGs occur year-round, and additional funds were raised this year through a raffle held during the officers' annual Christmas ball.

Lucky ticket-holders walked away with free airline tickets, an all-expenses weekend trip to Washington and a Waterford crystal vase. The Joy Fund received a cash donation of $5,000.

``We didn't top last year's contribution,'' said Thor Nielsen, mess president.

``But we were able to make a nice contribution. We'll work towards topping that next year.'' by CNB