2008 Combined Federal Campaign Heroes

Mr. Barnes has shown leadership in every Federal community he has worked, including serving as the CFC Chair of the Birmingham, Chicago, Baltimore and, most recently, the Metropolitan Atlanta campaigns. He was instrumental in encouraging other Federal executives to lead by example and, in turn, encourage and motivate their individual agency employees to get involved.

Not only did he supply a Public Affairs staff to provide day-to-day leadership for the campaign office, he also loaned a member of his staff to provide administrative support as well as two loaned executives. Other members of his staff were available to serve as IT support, photographers, provide video assistance and whatever other assistance was needed. Equally important, Mr. Barnes hosted two lunches for agency executives to gain their support for the CFC and gather recommendations. He also hosted three lunches for Loaned Executives to boost their morale and held a barbecue victory luncheon in their honor at the conclusion of the campaign. He is an example of someone not only "talked the talk, but walked the walk". Thanks to the example he set, his agency had over 75% participation, helping the Atlanta CFC to exceed its goal.

Ms. Dalessio is known as "Miss CFC" not only for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility but the entire Kitsap & Mason County CFC. The single most active member of the LFCC, she plans, coordinates, and participates in whatever capacity is needed. This includes being responsible for coordinating the efforts of a command with nearly 10,000 employees that raises over $1 million annually.

Her ’can-do‘ spirit is infectious and naturally breeds cooperation among the more than 75 Commands and Agencies that comprise the local campaign. From designing and creating the advertisement, obtaining awards and certificates, to setting up and running an event, she is often the first one there and the last to leave.

Ms. Dallesio is an expert at developing new ideas and techniques to bring focus to the campaign. She personally developed and organized an annual CFC Dance Contest and conducted seven days of keyworker and chairperson trainings. The campaign credits her efforts for the Kitsap & Mason Counties CFC surpassing its 2008 CFC goal by $100,000.

Ms. Facemire served as the 10th Air base wing, 10th Medical Support Squadron Unit Project Officer at the U.S. Air Force Academy during the 2008 CFC. Her responsibilities included recruiting an enthusiastic committee of keyworkers on a 1:25 ratio to help plan and run a fun, well-organized and successful campaign. She analyzed the unit campaign history and worked with her committee to plan and coordinate informative employee meetings, charity tours, charity speakers and special events. Her campaign wrap-up activities included conducting evaluations, presenting appreciation awards for outstanding achievements and following up with payroll offices to ensure all pledge forms were processed timely.

Ms. Facemire ensured 100% contact, raising $10,000 within three days of the kickoff. She met her $14,000 pledge goal in ten days and set a new $18,000 goal, which she also surpassed by spearheading four bake sales and gift basket sales. In addition, she implemented curse/change jars that collected $720, one quarter at a time. Because of her creativity, she rated #1 of 17 Wing Project Officers for money collected by an individual unit and topped USAFA achievement charts the entire campaign.

Although the 2008 CFC was Captain Frey's first time heading up the campaign, he quickly became known as the "CFC go-to person" at Vandenberg Air Force Base. He planned and implemented three successful events, educated all Loaned Executives at the base, and informed commanding officers weekly on the progress of their units.

Two weeks before the campaign began, Captain Frey arranged for the Colonel of the base to have a "photo op" for the base newspaper and be the first person to sign his pledge form. He also held a Manager's Breakfast before the campaign to educate all commanding officers about the CFC. A speaker for the breakfast was a client of a local agency and also worked on the base. Her heartwarming story was video taped and replayed during trainings and throughout the campaign. This brought the campaign closer to home for the employees.

Capt. Frey made himself available to all Loaned Executives, answering questions and providing supplies. During the weekly collections, the Captain would give ideas to help the LE's meet their goals. Thanks to him, two of the seven groups exceeded their goal in the first week, and the others shortly followed.

Captain Frey's efforts led to a 21% increase in total donations and a 17% increase in participation.

Lt. Col Sudnick served as the CFC Coordinator for the Westover Air Reserve Base during the 2008 campaign. In this capacity, he developed a comprehensive plan for success that included setting challenging goals for the base and each of its squadrons, conducting keyworker training, organizing special events, and reporting results. He also held frequent brainstorming sessions with representatives of each squadron and presentations to keep the Wing Commander informed and aware about the progress of the CFC.

Lt. Col. Sudnick was involved in all aspects of the base campaign from serving as the Master of Ceremonies for the Kick-Off Breakfast to recruiting a team to head a road race which set a fundraising record. He was extremely creative in determining that changing the route of the road race from a loop around the base to the runway would generate a lot of interest. The "Runway Run-Away Road Race" has now become an eagerly awaited CFC event.

His leadership saw a 21.7% increase in base contributions, which was by far the largest increase in the Pioneer Valley CFC

The campaign says that Mr. Venuti was the driving force behind its best ever CFC Kickoff. He set up the keyworker training & delivery of campaign materials to coincide with the Kickoff. When a construction project led to limited parking at the VA, he set up three additional parking areas at local businesses and provided a shuttle van ride to the facility. A guest list of attendees for the shuttle driver was prepared so that he could greet everyone by name and thank them for coming.

He also developed a fun Question and Answer Contest for federal employees in order to test their knowledge of CFC. Between the questions, he invited agency speakers to come to the podium to speak about how their organization serves the community.

Each morning of the campaign, Mr. Venuti stood outside the VA to greet his co-workers and hand out CFC books & pledge forms. He encouraged questions and participation by keeping the CFC in everyone's thoughts daily.

The results of his efforts led to a 29% increase in pledges from the previous year and an increase in the number of participants.

Ms. Waechter served as a Loaned Executive for the 2007 and 2008 Suncoast campaigns. She was responsible for all CFC-wide events and for 39 Federal offices with 2,000 employees. This included training 127 keyworkers and coordinators as part of a three-person training team, speaking at employee meetings and special events, and procuring incentive awards. She visited every facility, shift, or office at least three times for a quality, personal 100% ask. She was recognized as the #1 LE by her 15 Loaned Executive peers in both 2007 and 2008.

Ms. Waechter took charge for the first ever Special Events effort for the Suncoast CFC. She initiated and executed the inaugural Suncoast Golf Tournament on MacDill AFB, and the Pearl Harbor Day 5K Fun Run and 1 Mile Fun Walk on the VA Bay Pines campus. These served as the beginning and ending focal points for the 2008 CFC.

Her efforts led to a 5% increase in pledges in 2008 and her accounts had the highest average participation rate at 82% (a campaign record).

Ms. Watkins served as a Loaned Executive in the 2008 campaign. She established early contact with employees and supervisors at every postal facility in the 17 county area covered by the Coastal Georgia CFC. The majority of these 69 post offices were in rural areas that are a 2-3 hour drive from Savannah. Further, in order to have personal contact with the rural letter carriers, she had to schedule the visits prior to 9:30AM. She maximized the impact of her travels, by also participating in many non-postal CFC events in those areas.

Through Ms. Watkins' efforts, many postal employees had the opportunity to have personal contact with a CFC representative for the first time, resulting in more than $32,000 in pledges. The campaign met 117% of its goal, which it attributes to the dedication of Ms. Watkins.

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