The Defense Department is traditionally the largest contributor in the Combined Federal Campaign, Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said today at a Pentagon event to kick off the 2017 CFC campaign season.
Addressing DoD CFC campaign volunteers, managers, coordinators, executives, captains and keyworkers representing 24 teams, Shanahan said DoD's goal this year is to raise $9.1 million for charitable and nonprofit organizations.
"You are the reason the department is always at the front of the pack in giving across the federal government," he said in his prepared remarks to CFC volunteers.
"The department values your efforts [and] recognizes your leadership," he added.
'I'm Proud to be Part of This Amazing Team'
"I'm proud to be part of this amazing team and proud of [DoD] colleagues who willingly donate a portion of their earnings every year to support others," the deputy secretary said.
"We may ask ourselves: 'Why do we do this?'" said Shanahan, noting that for some people, giving to charity through CFC is a sense of duty, while for others it might be a sense of gratitude or a sense of responsibility to those around them.
The deputy secretary asked the volunteers to thank contributors and ask if they can do more, ask those who haven't donated if they will consider giving, and respect and appreciate their consideration. And he asked them to ask those who are unable to contribute monetarily if they will consider giving their time to support causes they care about.
"In the end, we give because someone we care about is in need and someone we know -- a CFC volunteer -- asked us to help by giving," he said. "Let us make 2017 a year of record-breaking charitable giving as we support charities and non-profits represented by this year's campaign."
The giving season for this campaign runs through Jan. 12.
(Follow Terri Moon Cronk on Twitter: @MoonCronkDoD)