50th Anniversary of Combined Federal Campaign Looks to Inspire “Caring” Power of Local Federal Employees

CFC for the Greater New Orleans Area celebrates 50 years of successful philanthropy

The Combined Federal Campaign for the Greater New Orleans Area (CFCGNO) will kick off its annual fundraising campaign this year with by celebrating the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)’s 50th Anniversary as the world’s largest and most successful annual workplace charity program.

Since its inception in 1961, the CFC has raised more than $6 billion in charitable donations. With over 200 campaigns across the country and internationally, the Campaign gives Federal employees an accountable, flexible way to donate to the charities of their choice.

The local CFCGNO has raised nearly $27 million for communities across Louisiana since 1995. “The success of the Combined Federal Campaign for the Greater New Orleans Area demonstrates the commitment of local Federal employees to public service and our community,” said Linda Steinhauser, Director of CFCGNO. “Not only do our Federal employees devote their livelihoods to their country, but their generosity has made the CFC one of the most powerful philanthropic forces in the world.”

Every year, over half a million dollars raised by the CFCGNO remains in the greater New Orleans community, funding programs run by local charities.  These charities ensure that vulnerable neighbors are able to live as independently as possible.  Through the generosity of local Federal donors, CFCGNO provided relief and long-term recovery for over 160,000 individuals in our region last year, meeting basic needs such as food and shelter. 

2006 was a historic year for CFCGNO, when the organization ran two campaigns following the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The combined total for the campaigns came close to $2 million dollars.  Local federal workers, even those displaced from their homes, were among the most generous in the nation, a trend that has not abated in recent years.

This year’s campaign, themed “Celebrating 50 Years of Caring,” will run from September 1st until December 15th. The CFCGNO hopes to raise $1.3 million during this campaign – a goal that can be achieved and even surpassed if each federal employee donates at least $50 – one dollar for every year that CFC has been in existence.

“This campaign is an opportunity of a lifetime for all of us - to be part of the “half-a-century” commemoration of the CFC,” says Cindy N. Gomez, District Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and this year’s CFCGNO Chairman.  “To donate during a time when we are all facing one of the most difficult economic periods in the last 50 years of this nation.  But it is also a time when we need to take the challenge and meet it head-on with continued and resolute steadfastness in our efforts to help others. Caring IS at the very core of the Federal worker; it is the sense of altruism that we exhibit through the very nature of the career paths that we have chosen to follow.”   

The Combined Federal Campaign for the Greater New Orleans Area is executed and managed by Federal employees who work with experienced nonprofit executives in the community to generate contributions and distribute them to participating charities.

For more information, please contact Linda Steinhauser at (504)827-6819 or lindas@unitedwaynola.org.