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Cigars and roses were just part of the thanks handed out here today by Combined Federal Campaign National Capital Area officials after Defense Department employees raised a record-setting $14.9 million in pledges in the 2004 CFC campaign.
The $14.9 million figure far surpassed the campaign's goal of $12.1 million, and is $1.8 million over the $13.1 million collected a year ago, according to DoD campaign officials.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who serves as CFC vice chairman, called DoD's participation in CFC "pretty impressive."
"It's leadership from top to bottom that has made this possible," he said. "I am immensely proud of what this department has accomplished."
Wolfowitz was the guest speaker at a small Pentagon ceremony where DoD recognized the fund-raising efforts of dozens of agencies, military components and employees.
"Over and over again we keep coming back, over and over again we keep breaking records," he said. "At some point, it's going to become impossible. But it's not impossible yet, so next year we're going to break the record one more time."
Wolfowitz said the record shows the DoD community is generous and committed to helping others.
"Wherever you look, whether it's wearing the uniform or as civilian, you'll find people with a strong sense of community, a strong sense of service, people who will pitch in to provide help when it's needed," he said.
Such was the case after the recent tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean region. Wolfowitz noted that DoD's CFC deadline was extended two weeks to allow employees to contribute to the tsunami relief efforts. "I want to thank all of you in this campaign for making that part of our special effort," he said.
Noting that DoD's generosity is "clearly reflected in this record-breaking fund-raising effort," Wolfowitz said the numbers alone don't tell the story.
"It's not just the numbers -- those figures are impressive enough -- but the spirit behind some of the gifts is as amazing," he said. One anonymous Office of the Secretary of Defense employee gave a single gift of more than $250,000, he noted, but he added that every donation reflects the DoD community's generosity.
"Whatever the amount, you can be certain that every gift was given with a generous heart," he explained.
Raymond DuBois, DoD's director of administration and management, also spoke of DoD's bigheartedness, saying the record-breaking CFC campaign reflects "the immense generosity and the heart and the soul of all of us that work at the Defense Department, both military and civilian."
All the federal agencies in the Washington metropolitan area comprise the CFCNCA. DuBois pointed out that 28 percent of all contributions to the CFC's National Capital region campaign came from DoD. "It seems that the biggest department in the federal government also has the biggest heart," he said.
A breakdown of the donations shows all 23 components of the DoD effort exceeded their goals, and for the first time each military service raised more than $2 million. The Department of the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps raised $3.7 million; the Army $3.3 million, and the Air Force $2.1 million.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense raised 195 percent of its goal, and the Defense Intelligence Agency became the first nonservice component to raise more than $1 million.
The average contribution this year was $296, with some 50,000 donors contributing.
Among the top awards presented today was the John O. Moreland Loaned Executive Award for Operational Campaign Excellence, given to the entire 13-member DoD loaned executive team. The team comprises people whose agencies allowed them to serve full time as CFC executives during the campaign. Moreland served 18 years as a loaned executive.
The David O. "Doc" Cooke Loaned Executive Award for Leadership and the David O. "Doc" Cooke Outstanding Campaign Award, both named after the beloved "Mayor of the Pentagon" who died in June 2002, were presented to Particia Kemp, who handled 28 accounts as a member of the Army CFC team, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, respectively.
The Sara E. McCarter Outstanding Campaign Manager Award was presented to OSD's Elizabeth Rodriguez Johnson and Ilsa Ferro of Defense Intelligence Agency. McCarter served 18 years as DoD's Air Force CFC campaign manager.
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA, American Forces Press Service
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 07.04.2025 03:02 |
| Story ID: | 534683 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 2 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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