MATES takes the lead in Camp Shelby CFC

Photo By Staff Sgt. Kenneth Hatten | Sgt. 1st Class Deangelis Taylor and Sgt. Rachel Edmonson of Camp Shelby MATES stand by the sign showing the grand total for the 2011 Camp Shelby Combined Federal Campaign.  

HATTIESBURG, MS, UNITED STATES

01.10.2012

Story by Staff Sgt. Kenneth Hatten 

Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Soldiers of the Mobilization and Training Equipment Site took the lead in the 2011 Combined Federal Campaign at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center.

“This year, their original goal was $40,000 and they raised $46,000, which resulted in MATES being one of the largest single-entity contributors in the South Mississippi CFC,” said Camp Shelby CFC Coordinator, Maj. William P. Lowery. “They’ve always gone above and beyond in terms of contributions, and that’s because of their leadership is very involved in promoting the program.”

Lt. Col. Bobby M. Ginn, the superintendent at MATES, encouraged participation in the program, and tasked his supervisors with raising awareness of how it benefitted the community.

“MATES is a very special group of people, and the workers in all the different crews here are some of the most generous people I’ve ever been around,” said Ginn.

Ginn’s executive assistants, Sgt. 1st Class Deangelis Taylor and Sgt. Rachel Edmonson, were instrumental in coordinating the donations from the various shops, and spent many hours talking to the workers in the shops, encouraging them to participate.

“I went to the different shops and gave them examples of local people who had benefitted from the program, which included several soldiers who had either gotten sick or had children who needed help,” said Taylor. “I told them that you never know how much the program helps until it’s time for it to help you.”

Taylor said that the strong sense of community at MATES was a big factor in how much they were able to raise for the campaign.

“We’re more like a family here, “she said, “and when you’re part of a family, you tend to want to help each other, and do things that make your family stand out, and that’s what we have here at MATES.”

Edmonson credited the new online pledge capability and the availability of local charities with this year’s increase in donations.

“Maj. Lowery asked the CFC representative from Gulfport to come and talk to the MATES crew about the different local organizations they could give to, and how they could donate online, and that really helped us push our total over the $40,000 mark,” said Edmonson.

“I’ve been here 15 years, and the quality of the people we hire here is just fantastic,” said Ginn. “You hear all the time about how the young people today aren’t this or aren’t that, but that’s just not true in the Mississippi Army National Guard. I see it every day in the quality and generosity of our young soldiers, and I think that our people are better than ever.”

• Date Taken: 01.10.2012
• Date Posted: 01.18.2012 11:12
• Story ID: 82516
• Location: HATTIESBURG, MS, US