DOD Raises $21 Million in CFC Campaign

By Terri Moon Cronk

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2014 – Despite a year of furloughs and a government shutdown, Defense Department civilians and military members raised $21 million for 4,400 charities during the Combined Federal Campaign last year, Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Christine H. Fox said at the CFC awards ceremony at the Pentagon today.

Fox is DOD’s CFC vice chair. At the ceremony, DOD and the military services celebrated their contributions to the campaign, which was conducted DOD-wide from Sept. 1, 2013 to Jan. 15, 2014. CFC is the only authorized solicitation of federal employees in their workplaces on behalf of approved charitable organizations.

“CFC is all about giving to people who need help, whether it’s through research organizations to try to cure diseases or prevent them or it’s giving to help individuals struggling in any number of ways,” Fox told the audience.

Six people were individually awarded for their support of the campaign, in addition to 16 Defense Department organizations, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines received numerous awards, and for the first time, the five overseas combatant commands were honored for raising $11 million for the campaign.

Vince Micone, chairman of the Washington, D.C., coordinating committee for CFC in the National Capital Area, received a large, cardboard check for the $10 million that was raised in the National Capital Region.

“When I think about the number of people who contributed to CFC in the National Capital Region and overseas, I have to reflect a minute on what your lives have been like this last year,” Fox told the military members and civilians in the audience.

“Our military members … were once again asked to do more, frankly … than would be reasonable to expect with the sequestration last year,” she continued. “It was a very difficult time and the demands on the military just never seem to go down. Once again, our military rose to the occasion admirably and performed beautifully.”

Fox noted the civilian workforce had its hardships, too.

“You went three years without a raise, you were furloughed and all of you -- military and civilian –- lived through a government shutdown,” she said.

“It was a tough year, yet our civilian workforce performed superbly, just as our military did and always does,” Fox said. “And as civilians, you always [work] with confidence, dedication and skill. Through all of that … you found it in your hearts to give to others. And give, you did.”