Fort Belvoir, Virginia –
With more than 24,000 charities, the Combined Federal Campaign has a charity for everyone, the Defense Logistics Agency director said during the 2015 CFC Kick-Off Ceremony at the McNamara Headquarters Complex Oct. 1.
Although its results are measured in dollars, the most important goal of the campaign is to link those who are inclined to give to the charity of their choice, said DLA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch.
After personally donating to the CFC for more than 30 years, DLA Finance Director Anthony Poleo said he thinks the greatest thing about the campaign is the opportunity to give back to communities and to the people that we work with every day.
“It’s an amazing feeling to have an opportunity to give to something that personally resonates with you and that can make such a difference,” he said.
As this year’s CFC vice chair, Poleo said he has challenged the agency’s CFC team to increase participation and the number of pledges processed using the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s MyPay capability. MyPay is the most cost efficient way to make a contribution, he said, noting that it costs $14 to process a paper pledge card.
Guest speaker retired Army Col. Dick Johns spoke about the Fort Belvoir Wounded Warrior Golf Program that he helps organize and the effect it has had on recipients. Run by the Army’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation office, the program assists in the physical, mental and emotional rehabilitation of wounded service members, spouses and children. Although not listed in the CFC, the program benefits from CFC donations that are made to its sister organization, Links to Freedom.
As part of his speech, Johns read several comment cards from some of the more than 600 wounded veterans that have benefited from the program, the majority of which had never played golf before.
At the end of the ceremony, senior leaders from DLA, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Defense Technical Information Center and the Defense Contract Audit Agency presented their CFC pledges to each agency’s respective CFC campaign manager.
Afterward, representatives from more than 20 CFC charities were on hand in the HQC Cafeteria as part of an annual charity fair.
As the only charity authorized for the federal workplace, the CFC has raised more than $7 billion for charities over the past 50 years. DLA’s national capital area CFC goal for 2015 is $390,000. Employees can submit CFC pledges one of three ways before the campaign ends Dec. 15:
-- ePledge through DFAS MyPay.
-- eGiving via the NEXUS system.
-- Complete a Paper Pledge Form through their organizations’ CFC team captains and keyworkers.