FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Fort Leonard Wood’s 2022 Army Emergency Relief fundraising campaign took the No. 1 spot in the U.S. Army for the number of Soldiers who donated and for the dollar amount raised.
The team also took the top spot across U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command for number of Soldiers who donated, percent of Soldiers donating and dollar amount raised.
The Army’s campaign goal for the year was $150,000 per installation with at least 25 percent of Soldiers donating. Fort Leonard Wood surpassed that with a total donation amount of $183,370 and 68.5 percent of Soldiers donating.
“The 2022 campaign was an outstanding success and accomplishment,” said Army Community Services Director Shawn Steen — ACS oversees the AER program here. “This is the second consecutive year — and third within the past five years — that Fort Leonard Wood has had the highest percentage of Soldiers donating to the AER campaign across TRADOC, and the highest dollar amount of any Army installation.”
On Monday, members of the AER team, including AER Officer Chuck Matthews and volunteer coordinators 2nd Lt. Jordan Anderson, Company C, 554th Engineer Battalion, and Staff Sgt. Shawn McLain, Company E, 701st Military Police Battalion, presented a ceremonial check to Maj. Gen. James Bonner, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Randolph Delapena at the MSCoE headquarters building.
Prior to the presentation, Bonner awarded Matthews the Civilian Service Achievement Medal and Anderson and McLain Army Commendation Medals.
“The diligent efforts of both the campaign coordinators and ACS AER staff helped pushed the campaign to reach almost 130 percent of their annual goal,” Steen said. “The AER program is extremely important, and by exceeding the annual goal, AER now has additional funds that become directly available to service members.”
Anderson credited unit action officers for the campaign’s success.
“Each company was assigned a representative to help schedule or conduct briefings,” he said. “We are limited on time, so they were able to go into more detail about the campaign (with service members) than we were during our briefings.”
Another key factor in the team’s success was the trainee population’s willingness to help their fellow Soldiers, Anderson said.
Permanent party Soldiers always hold their own because they know the program and many of them have used it, Anderson said, but the most traction, interest and willingness to help comes from the trainee population.
According to Steen, young Soldiers often see donating as a way to integrate into the Army.
“Junior Soldiers see AER as a means of contributing to help fellow Soldiers when in need and a way to become part of the bigger ‘Army Team,’” he said.
Matthews said this year’s achievements speak to the professionalism of the service members who volunteer to help recruit donors. In total, Matthews, Anderson and McClain briefed 10,188 service members across 169 companies and staff, reaching 91 percent of the installation.
“Much of our success depends on how we make the presentation and talk to the Soldiers in the units,” he said. “It’s about making people understand the primary focus behind AER.”
The campaign may be over, but receiving donations throughout the year is very important, Matthews said.
“A lot of folks don’t know they can donate anytime during the year,” he said.
To donate, call 573.596.2595 or 0212. To request AER assistance, call 573.596.3154.
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