DATE: Sunday, May 11, 1997                  TAG: 9705090222

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 14   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

CHARITY JOINS FORCES WITH RADIO TO HELP THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED

Lisa Carney is 21, a single mother with two daughters - a 2-year-old and 7-month-old - a monthly welfare check, a subsidized apartment at Jeffry Wilson Homes in Portsmouth and little else.

When she moved into the public housing complex three weeks ago, all she had was some clothing for herself and her children and a mattress on which she and her children slept. The dwelling unit came with a refrigerator and stove, but Carney didn't even have kitchen utensils or a table on which to serve food.

``I have no furnishings at all,'' she said. ``I just borrowed a mattress from a friend's mother.''

Prospects for getting housekeeping basics and a modicum of comfort seemed slim indeed. The round-the-clock responsibility of caring for two infant children precluded attempts to find a job and a way out of a financial abyss.

That's when fate took a hand in the form of Christian Action, a one-man charity run by 86-year-old Richard Hassell of Norfolk.

An uncle had advised the desperate Carney to call Hassell and seek help.

She did and Hassell, who supports himself and his charitable works through his monthly $380 Social Security check, was at her door step the next day.

``It was the worst case I've seen,'' said Hassell, a clear-eyed realist who has seen his share of misery in Southeastern Virginia in the more than six decades of providing food, clothing and shelter for the needy and destitute. ``She and the babies was sleeping on the floor - on nothing but a mattress. No clothes, no furniture. Nothing.''

Using well-established contacts at WDOC, a radio station associated with Open Door Chapel in Virginia Beach and with the country-western music station WCMS, Hassell managed to wangle contributions of furniture and household supplies from listeners in a matter of days.

There was one major problem. Neither Hassell nor Anne Beverly, WODC general manager, had been able to find a volunteer with a truck to haul the furnishings to Carney's apartment. The need still exists.

Beverly and Suzy Penick, WODC disc jockey and public relations trouble shooter, had put out a call for help over the air last week and help quickly arrived.

``Christians really came through,'' said Beverly at week's end. ``We've been very successful and what we're trying to do now is to get someone to donate a truck so we can move the stuff.''

Hassell, Beverly and Penick have worked together before. A South Hampton Roads woman was unable to pay off an electric bill that had grown to $1,100 and word got to Hassell.

He contacted Beverly. Penick checked out the woman's story and confirmed - through an account number that she did have an unpaid $1,100 utility bill. WODC broadcast the woman's plight, said Hassell, and contributions came rolling in. ``They turned on the lights while I was in her house.''

Daily broadcasts contain pleas for help for different people in need, said Beverly and the audience has always responded. ``These are very good people who are willing to pitch in,'' she said.

Added Penick,``Whenever there's a need, we just get together and deal with the situation. The main thing we need at this point is a truck.''

Hassell says his one-man charity operation fills a special niche in Hampton Roads and that people here should know that it is a viable, credible, ongoing organization despite his advancing age.

``I can do things a lot of (charitable) organizations can't do,'' he said.

One of those things, he would remind you, is providing a free meal for the indigent and the elderly at the Open Door Chapel on Thanksgiving and Christmas. He's been doing it for more than eight years, coaxing and wheedling hams, turkeys, pies, cakes and all the trimmings from local merchants to put holiday meals on the table for up to 300 people. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Richard Hassell

Graphic

CAN YOU HELP?

Christian Action needs a volunteer with a truck who can deliver

donated goods to families in need. Call 461-7249 if you can help or

if you would like to donate your time, money or goods.

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