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SECTION C | FLAGSHIPNEWS.COM | 12 .01.11

Three days, 900 turkeys, 4,000 pounds of potatoes and 5,500 canned items later, the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) of Hampton Roads has officially concluded its 6th annual Thanksgiving Assistance Pro-gram.

The event, held every year by the ASYMCA, has consistently grown each year and set a new record this year with 915 meals provided to local military families. The array of food given away included a 12-15 pound turkey and everything needed to make the meal for the big day – from stuffing to yams and even dessert.

Regional Programs Director Juanita Pryor headed up the event. She said, “This was my first year to oversee the program. When faced with the task of conducting the food drive, I looked to the area military commands for assistance. I knew there was a strong spirit of vol-unteerism and caring within the military and thought they might take ownership of providing for their own.”

The commands did not disappoint. Pryor said the USS Kearsarge led the way for the drive and brought in enough food to fill about 200 boxes. A large number of other commands participated as well, including the USS Barry and USS Harry S. Truman, who also do-nated commendable amounts of non-perishables.

During the three days it took to assemble food boxes and distribute, Soldiers from Ft. Eustis were on loan to help. The USS Eisenhower and Citi Group also sent over a lot of volunteers.

“The process it takes go from an empty storefront to one filled with frozen turkeys and over 900 boxes requires a tremendous amount of volunteers and hard, manual labor,” said Pryor. “Our staff here is small, but we can accomplish great things when we work together with the community.”

Referrals for the program are made by individual military commands. Information is disseminated

each October to all branches of the Armed Forces in Hampton Roads and commands are asked to screen possible recipients and send recommendations. As Hampton Roads is the largest military presence in the nation, the ASYMCA consistently receives over 1,000 requests for assistance each year.

Funds to purchase turkeys and additional needed food came from grants provided by Woman’s Day magazine and Omni Financial, as well as several pri-vate donors.

The mission of the ASYMCA of Hampton Roads is to improve the quality of life for junior enlisted mili-tary personnel and their families through values ori-ented social, recreational, personal development, crisis prevention, deployment separation and childcare pro-grams.

For more information on any of their programs, visit www.asymcahr.org or call 363-1884.

■ our missionThe mission of the ASYMCA of Hampton Roads is to improve the quality of life for junior enlisted military personnel and their families through values oriented social, recreational, personal development, crisis prevention, deployment separation and childcare programs.

Record year for ASYMCA holiday assistance

HAMPTON

Hampton Coliseum welcomes “Cirque Du Soleil - Quidam,” a young girl’s escape into a world of imagination, for eight per-formances from Dec. 7 - 11. Quidam had its world premiere in Montreal under the Big Top in April 1996. Since that time, the pro-duction has toured on five continents and has been experienced by millions of people.

Quidam has embarked on a new jour-ney, performing the same captivating production, but now in arenas throughout North America. The international cast features 52 world-class acrobats, musi-cians, singers and characters.

Unlike any other Cirque du Soleil show, Quidam does not take spectators to an imaginary realm of fanciful, larger-than-life characters. Rather, it is an ex-amination of our own world – inhabited by real people with real-life concerns.

Young Zoé is bored. Her parents, dis-tant and apathetic, ignore her. Her life has lost all meaning. Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world – the world of Quidam – where she meets characters who en-courage her to free her soul.

Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a soli-tary figure lingering on a street corner,

a person rushing past and swallowed by the crowd. It could be anyone, any-body. Someone coming or going at the heart of our anonymous society. A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority. The one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all. This is the “quidam” whom this show allows to speak. This is the place that beckons – a place for dreaming and genuine relations where all quidams, by pro-claiming their individuality, can fi-nally emerge from anonymity.

For more information on the show, visits www.cirquedusoleil.com.

THE CIRQUE IS COMING

■ show info“Quidam” is running from Dec. 7 - 11 at the Hampton Coliseum. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Wed. and Thurs., 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Fri. and Sat., and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Sun.

Tickets range from $35 to $100, $28 to $76 for children ages 2 to 12 and $31.50 to $85 for military, seniors citizens and students.

Bisping, Miller are ready to settle the score“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 coaches Jason Miller (left) and Michael Bisping are scheduled to meet in the Octagon, Dec. 3. » see C5