Brian Hill
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 7, 2021) — Fort Leonard Wood’s 2021 Combined Federal Campaign solicitation period begins Oct. 12.
The CFC celebrates its 60th anniversary this year as the official workplace giving campaign for federal employees and retirees, and, as in previous years, personnel here may choose to donate to any of the more than 20,000 participating charities via a one-time gift or through regular payroll deductions.
This year’s campaign slogan is, “You can be the face of change,” and, according to Brandy Keeth, one of Fort Leonard Wood’s 2021 CFC coordinators, monetary donations and volunteer hours from service members, civilians, retirees and their families here end up helping people in the local area and beyond.
“There are a lot of charities in the CFC that help veterans, service members, civilians and their families,” Keeth said. “Without us giving, they may not get the assistance they need.”
Keeth said the goal this year is to raise $100,000 at Fort Leonard Wood. To accomplish this, she added that making contact with 100 percent of the potential donors is an important first step.
“We need to let them know how they can make a monetary contribution and pledge volunteer time to support organizations that help people in need,” Keeth said. “People are more likely to participate in the program if they are asked.”
Since the campaign first began in 1961, federal employees have donated more than $8.5 billion through the CFC – $83.6 million was donated last year alone.
In a memo released in July, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said people around the world have benefitted from individual members of the federal community pledging money and time to make positive impacts. The CFC campaign season is a good time, Austin wrote, to reflect on “your chosen cause, your values and the ways in which you can spark a change in the world.”
“Our communities, our nation and our world continue to face many challenging issues,” Austin said. “Innumerable circumstances require support, assistance or intervention. Whether it is someone in need in your own community, contributing to medical research to help cure rare diseases, or coming to the rescue of an endangered species, the CFC provides a method for us to make big impacts on the world around us.”
For more information about CFC — including information on how to donate and a list of charities — visit www.gatewaycfc.org or https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/garrison/cfc.
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post 80 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.
More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission