The 97 AMW joins in the CFC

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jeremy Wentworth
  • 97 AMW/PA

The holiday season is known as a time of giving, and right now the Combined Federal Campaign allows military members and Department of Defense employees to give back to their communities and more.

The CFC connects contributors to more than 20,000 non-profit charities around the world. According to the CFC, their purpose is to promote and support philanthropy through a program that is employee focused, cost-efficient and effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all.

Even though it was authorized by President Ronald Reagan via executive order, the CFC has been growing within the government as early as 1956.

According to the CFC website, in June 1956 President Eisenhower formally charged the President's Advisor on Personnel Management with the responsibility of developing and administrating a uniform policy and program for fundraising within the federal service.

At its core, the CFC serves as an approved charity fundraiser for all government branches and employees.

The non-profits included on the list of donations are heavily vetted so that the money given by service members go to reputable sources.

Donors can visit http://oklahomanorthtexascfc.org and click on the “Sign-up Now” in the top right of the website and sign up following the instructions. From there, click the following options.

- Type of Donor: Federal Employee or Member of Military

- Your Department: Military – Air Force

- Your Agency: Air Education and Training Command

- Your Office: Type in 97 and chose an option that is Altus AFB, OK. Donations are only being tracked on base level, so the actual organization does not matter as long as it is a 97 AMW group or squadron.

The website offers a “find your charity” feature which allows users to find a charity that suits their interest. Users can also research independent of this feature and simply look up the charity of their choice in the database.

The last step is selecting payment options. Participants can have a one-time payment or an annual payment. In addition, users can split a payment among multiple charities with no worries about where their money is going.

“For the first time charities track CFC designations to their organization in real time and receive updated, completely transparent reporting on all federal employee pledges,” said Carol Jones, chairperson of the 2018 Oklahoma and North Texas CFC. “Thousands of charities said ‘yes’ to revolutionizing the CFC so that federal employees could give with confidence, knowing for the first time it’s possible for 100% of your CFC contribution to go to the charity you support.”

With holidays around the corner, the CFC serves as a collective way for service members and DoD employees to give back to the country in a different way. In the season of giving, the Airmen of the Mighty 97th have the opportunity to once again show their excellence.