Navy Holds CFC Ceremony at Pentagon

ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- The Department of the Navy held a kick off ceremony at the Pentagon for the 2012 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), Sept. 14.

CFC gives service members and federal civilians the opportunity to donate to any of over 4,000 pre-screened charities. At the ceremony, Under Secretary of the Navy Robert Work said the Department of the Navy's CFC goal this year is to raise $2.9 million in pledges.

"One of the reasons that I like to come to this job every day is because of the people that I get to work with, and just the unbelievable amount of charity and giving that is in their hearts," Work said. "For the past seven years, the DON, the Department of the Navy, has achieved the Million Dollar Circle award because we have raised over a million dollars every year for the past seven years."

The ceremony also doubled as an information fair where a handful of charitable organizations set up booths to promote their causes and to give a face to the things that CFC donations support. There were representatives from all over the charitable spectrum, from food pantries to parrot rescue shelters. Chris Bombaugh, president and CEO of the Montgomery County Humane Society, said her organization truly needs the money that CFC donations bring in.

"While public funds cover the basics for animal shelter care, private donations from people like you and from a campaign like this one cover literally everything else we do," Bombaugh said

The 2012 CFC campaign will continue through Dec. 15. The Department of the Navy's goal is to have a CFC volunteer make contact with every Sailor and Navy civilian to offer them the opportunity to pledge a donation.

Since 1971, CFC has been the only authorized workplace charitable campaign for the federal service. CFC givers can contribute to their causes via cash, check or payroll deduction.

Charities that participate in CFC must complete an annual application process. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees the program, maintains strict eligibility and public accountability criteria that all CFC charities must meet.

In 2011, nearly a million federal employees pledged over $272 million according to OPM figures. Since its creation in 1961, CFC has raised over $7 billion for local, national and international charities.


For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.