COAL GROVE — March Madness may be in full effect for the NCAA college basketball teams but it will just get started Tuesday for some local men, women and children who are playing for a different type of reward: one just of acceptance.

The March Madness basketball games will be in the Dawson-Bryant High School Gym at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The first game pits local media personalities against the Tri-State Industries All-Stars. The second game will be with Open Door Jets taking on the TSI team.

The Lawrence County Board of Developmental Disabilities continues its DD Awareness Month events all designed to increase public awareness events through the theme, “Together.”

March is celebrated as DD Awareness Month to help the community realize the importance of the developmentally disabled as part of the community. The statewide theme for this year’s activities focuses on bringing the community together to accomplish more.

“This year’s theme of ‘Together’ really catches the essence of what we try to accomplish with DD Awareness Month,” said Superintendent, Paul Mollett. “By bringing people and organizations of the community together with the DD population, we can accomplish the immense task of having fun and enjoying our community as a whole.”

The board will continue its food drive and eyeglasses collection at various locations in Lawrence County through March and April.

The Lawrence County Board of DD serves more than 500 children and adults with developmental disabilities from throughout the county. Services include Service and Support Administration, early intervention for infants and toddlers, preschool services, the Open Door School for students with multiple handicaps ages 6-21, and employment, job training and other services for adults with DD through a collaborative arrangement with Tri-State Industries, Inc., a private, non-profit corporation.

For more information about DD Awareness Month, call (740) 532-7401.