LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
This year's Combined Federal Campaign will kick off Wednesday with a breakfast at the Gateway Club. The campaign, open to Federal employees, including postal workers, raises money each year for local, national and international charities.
"The [Lackland] campaign has two parts," said Team Lackland Project Officer Lt. Col. Patrick Burke. "For permanent party, it will run from Wednesday to Oct. 24. For basic military trainees and technical training students, since they're arriving every week, the campaign will [begin Monday and run] to Dec. 15.
"Last year we raised $953,638 against a goal of $747,829," said Colonel Burke. He is optimistic Team Lackland will be as equally generous this campaign.
All Federal agencies across Lackland are involved in the CFC. Among them are the 37th Training Wing, 59th Medical Wing, the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, the 149th Fighter Wing and the 433rd Airlift Wing. Each top-level agency has a separate goal.
"We'll start the campaign off with the breakfast, where we'll ask for leadership and individual support alike for the campaign," said Colonel Burke. "The key workers for the campaign are at the heart of our efforts and will come by and help you find the charity you want to help out and will also help you fill out the payroll deduction form, if that's the way you want to make your donation."
There is a guidebook for Lacklanders to reference that has more than 2,000 different charities listed from the local level to the international level. Each charity has a five-digit code that changes from year to year.
The kickoff breakfast will feature a campaign video and guest speaker Bartell Zachry, Chairman of the Board, H.B. Zachry Company. Formal invitations went out to key leaders across Lackland three weeks ago, and all Lackland employees are invited. Unit key workers will have tickets to the breakfast.
During the campaign, there will be a visible focus on tracking contacts and donations toward Lackland's goals.
"One of my responsibilities as the project officer is to post a thermometer that shows how we're doing against our goals outside of each gate," Colonel Burke said. "There are six top-level agencies participating, so we'll include all of them that stated a goal in the postings."
This year's theme is "changing lives one gift at a time." Colonel Burke takes that theme seriously.
"The idea is any one of us with any level of donation can make a difference in people's lives," he said. "It's voluntary to give, and in the end, it really is about changing lives."