PERSONNEL: 'EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEER OF YEAR' NAMED

Chris Bledsoe has been named "Employee Volunteer of the Year" at the Tamms Correctional Center at Tamms, Ill.

Bledsoe, started his career as a correctional officer with the Illinois Department of Corrections in September of 1997. He has assumed various posts at the Tamms facility, and is now Minimum Security Unit Armory offices.

He is a member of a gospel-singing group that has raised about $10,000 for various charities by performing at benefit concerts. The group also provides financial support to two area Christian schools.

Bledsoe volunteers as a basketball coach at the Olive Branch Christian Academy for 6th- to 12th-grade boys, and recently he donated a computer system to the Academy. He also assists the Pulaski County Volunteer FiredDepartment with fund raisers and helps in the annual Pulaski County Fair set up.

He participated in the 2000 Special Olympics Torch Run, and is a member of United State Naval Reserve Unit at Cape Girardeau.

Bledsoe received a letter from the warden, a $50 savings bond, payment of Illinois Correctional Association membership dies for a year and a plaque honoring his achievement.