Generosity is alive and well at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center.
Look no further than the results of the recently completed 2010 Combined Federal Campaign. Millions of dollars are raised each year by the CFC, known as the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign. Federal civilian, postal and military participate in the campaign season, which runs from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15, and money goes to eligible non-profit organizations.
At Natick, the CFC tentatively raised an $140,000 for the 2010 campaign. The installation record was last year's $153,000.
"I consider it a success," said John Suiter, Natick's CFC coordinator and the installation safety manager. "We're still waiting on the (exact) figures."
NSSC gave a good account of itself. According to Suiter, Natick ranked among the top federal agencies in Massachusetts in the average amount given per contributor.
Suiter added that a large percentage of Natick personnel donated to the campaign.
"I believe we probably had a 60 or 65 percent donation with 100 percent accountability," said Suiter, "which doesn't sound like a lot, but actually it's quite a bit compared to a lot of organizations."
As Suiter pointed out, CFC took donations online this year for the first time, and the Natick campaign benefited.
"We did really (well) on that," Suiter said. "We had 52 people who did the online (donations) this year. We hope to eventually get it to where everybody is doing it online, because it makes it so much easier for accountability.
"I was able to go online for myself. It took less than 45 seconds to open an account."
Though the campaign had closed to contributions by payroll deductions, last week Suiter was still accepting other forms of donation.
"If you want to do a check donation, cash donation, yes, you can still do that," Suiter said.
Did Suiter have a goal for this, the first CFC campaign he had ever coordinated'
"I had no expectations," Suiter said. "I was going to let it ride ... and let it run its course."
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