2007 Combined Federal Campaign Heroes

Captain Thomas Abell developed a comprehensive, six-step campaign plan for success: goal setting, key worker training, special events, campaign marketing, charity involvement and reporting of results. He did this by setting a challenging goal for the Dover Air Force Base and each of its squadrons, as well as organizing two training sessions for approximately 50 keyworkers, coordinating a kickoff luncheon to motivate donors and give them a chance to hear from the participating charities, and organizing a base-wide bowling tournament to raise awareness and money for the CFC. Captain Abell also provided guidance and support for all base campaign activities, such as a fun fair, three squadron tour kick-offs, and a hockey tournament. His campaign plan also included a marketing blitz that incorporated the base newspaper, The Airlifter, television station, ad scrolling announcement board and strategically-placed CFC banners.

Although it was his first time spearheading the campaign of this size, Captain Abell oversaw a 16% increase in contributions that included increases in the number of donors and the average gift.

Before working on the 2007 CFC, Captain Abell completed a tour in Afghanistan. As the campaign began, he also welcomed his first son into the family. He is a volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Dream Factory, and other charities.

In 2007, David Cowgill served as the CFC chairperson for the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System for the second consecutive year. He led the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 4 campaign which encompassed ten VA facilities in three states, multiple CFC campaign regions, and over 10,000 VA personnel. His responsibilities included strategic planning, goal setting, campaign marketing, team development and training, solicitation follow-up, campaign communications, pledge analysis and reporting. He customized a promotional campaign for the VA, introduced VA-CFC branding for all communications, held chairperson meetings for the VISN, and worked closely with leadership staff in each facility to achieve their support and endorsement.

His efforts led to a 30% increase over 2006 pledges from the VA Pittsburgh healthcare System, and an 8% increase in participation.

Mr. Cowgill is an active church volunteer, serving as an instructor of pre-marital classes. He is also a youth football, wrestling, baseball, and basketball coach.

Dave Fenton, as known as "Mr. CFC", has been involved in CFC activities at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard since 1991. From the beginning, he worked to establish CFC events that bring awareness to the campaign and the positive things it represents. With his characteristic wealth of enthusiasm, he created the character "Deputy Dave" to provide continuity to the Shipyard employees' CFC experience. As the character, he takes center-stage for a variety of events and is always a positive force. These include serving as an emcee for every CFC event at the Bremerton, WA site; the Pie Eating Contest, Halloween/Costume Contest, Classic Carshow, and Jail and Bail.

In 2007, the Shipyard once again exceeded its monetary goal, raising $1.3 million. At the command level, this performance it attributed to Mr. Fenton's involvement and enthusiasm.

Mr. Fenton is involved in creating and producing a major Christmas drama event at this church for the past five years. He also has participated on multiple mission trips with teens to Mexico to assist with building projects.

Along with fellow Hero Award winner Chris Taylor, Wendy Lubbe served as the co-chair for the 2007 EPA Region 7 campaign. In this capacity, she managed a team of CFC campaign workers recruited from each of the region's divisions and planned and oversaw weekly fundraising events such including a kick-off hosted by the EPA Regional Administrator, a presentation by a local television personality whose family benefited from CFC charities, and a chili cook-off. She was also responsible for a silent auction, working with the owners/operators for the cafeteria to provide a free lunch to every CFC donor, and holding Halloween and Pet Photo Contests. The campaign culminated with the Senior Staff Karaoke Contest. Throughout the campaign period, employees could vote on which members of the Senior Staff would have to sing a song chosen by members of their division. Campaign results were represented in a CFC Duck Race along a dry creek in the agency's atrium. Percentage markers were placed along the creek and each division was provided a duck that moved down the creek each week to match the percentage of participation. The race was a great source of pride and friendly rivalry as employees turned out each Thursday to see the latest results.

Thanks to her efforts, participation in the kick-off increased by over 500% from the previous year and the EPA Region's contributions rose by 16% and its participation rate climbed to 51%. She was recognized by the local campaign as a recipient of the Achieving Campaign Excellence Award, caring for Community Award, and the JFK Award for Employers with 500+ Employees.

Ms. Lubbe has been a volunteer with the Arthritis Foundation and a charter school in Washington, DC.

Mr. Preston has been the only Treasure Coast CFC Loaned Executive for the past three years, and has agreed to serve again in 2008. During his tenure, he has helped the campaign increase contributions by more than 10% to raise a record $535,000. He has done this by conducting a very effective Key Worker training presentation. His abounding enthusiasm and demonstrated success helped to motivate Key Workers and Campaign Managers to achieve record breaking successes. He has been a speaker at more than 50 agency kickoff events and provided support to over 48 agencies in five counties. The Local Federal Coordinating Committee also credits him with the recruitment of two new members, including the 2008 CFC chair.

Mr. Preston's work with U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Senior Management to discuss internal goals and commitments from the managers led to a 10% increase in contributions and a 10% increase in postal worker participation despite a decline in the workforce.

Mr. Preston is a 25-year employee of USPS and has been a National Postal Mail Handler Union Shop Steward for the past 13 years. He is a board member of Caring for Postal Families and the USPS Social and Recreation Committee. He has also been a Steward at his church for the past 15 years.

For the second year running Petty Officer Robert Pryor led a highly successful campaign, surpassing the previous year's records. He committed over 200 hours of his personal time to ensure a successful execution of the campaign, and proved to be an able leader by coordinating with over 30 commands and departments from two separate military installations with more than 5,000 employees combined.

He oversaw the campaign's kick-off celebration, which gave employees a chance to learn about more than 30 participating charities. He also took responsibility for training and overseeing 76 keyworkers. Thanks to Petty Office Pryor, the campaign raised $397,000, which was an increase of more than 20% over 2006 pledges.

Petty Officer Pryor is committed to bettering his community at any installation he is stationed. During the 2007 campaign, he served as a mentor for a 5th grader and the Navy recognized his commitment to the community by awarding him the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Lalo Reyna served as a CFC Loaned Executive for the past nine years, and, prior to that, was a keyworker for six years. As Loaned Executive, he conducted a campaign of 3,500 employees, the largest in the Coastal Bend CFC. His duties and responsibilities included planning, implementing, and overseeing all aspects of his organization's campaign. He also personally stepped in to fill any position, no matter how big or small. These included changing thermometer signs, assisting the eligibility review committee, conducting additional volunteer training within his own organization, and assisting with the kick-off and victory luncheons.

Due to Mr. Reyna's personal efforts and commitments, his organization surpassed its goal by 47%, raising more than $365,000. In addition, the Corpus Christi Army Depot's participation rate increased to 49% and the number of eagle givers increased by 30%. The Coastal Bend CFC has recognized his efforts by presenting him with the Thomas Walker Award for Outstanding Loaned Executive for the past four consecutive years.

Mr. Reyna has been employed with the Corpus Christi Army Depot for 28 years. In addition to his work with the CFC, he is an active volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club of Corpus Christi, coordinates the Sharing Christmas "For the Kids" program, and is an active member of his church.

While serving on the CFC cabinet, Leslie Sanders screened over 50 charitable organization to ensure compliance with the eligibility requirements, negotiated with a CFC awards vendor that resulted in a the reduction of costs by half, and initiated the idea to provide coordinators with seed money to support local kick-off events. In his local campaign, he was responsible for 80 keyworkers and the solicitation of over 7,500 employees. He not only supported his internal campaign, but was a presenter during local training sessions and a mentor to coordinators at other Federal agencies.

Mr. Sanders is very proud to be a CFC coordinator and likes to think of himself as a facilitator who keeps the lines of communications open. His accomplishments include increased pledges every year and increased awareness of the CFC by making it more visible throughout the year.

Outside of the workplace, Mr. Sanders is a Big Brother to high-risk youths, volunteers at Cedar Sinai Hospital where he provides therapy to the elderly as well as young people, sponsors the high school football and basketball teams, and provides meals to the elderly in his neighborhood. For his work in taking kids off the streets and involving them in a neighborhood football league, he was awarded the Civil Service Award from State Senator Diane Watson.

Along with fellow Hero Award winner Wendy Lubbe, Chris Taylor served as the co-chair for the 2007 EPA Region 7 campaign. In this capacity, he managed a team of CFC campaign workers recruited from each of the region's divisions and planned and oversaw weekly fundraising events such including a kick-off hosted by the EPA Regional Administrator, a presentation by a local television personality whose family benefited from CFC charities, and a chili cook-off. He was also responsible for a silent auction, working with the owners/operators for the cafeteria to provide a free lunch to every CFC donor, and holding Halloween and Pet Photo Contests. The campaign culminated with the Senior Staff Karaoke Contest. Throughout the campaign period, employees could vote on which members of the Senior Staff would have to sing a song chosen by members of their division. Campaign results were represented in a CFC Duck Race along a dry creek in the agency's atrium. Percentage markers were placed along the creek and each division was provided a duck that moved down the creek each week to match the percentage of participation. The race was a great source of pride and friendly rivalry as employees turned out each Thursday to see the latest results.

Thanks to his efforts, participation in the kick-off increased by over 500% from the previous year and the EPA Region's contributions rose by 16% and its participation rate climbed to 51%. He was recognized by the local campaign as a recipient of the Achieving Campaign Excellence Award, caring for Community Award, and the JFK Award for Employers with 500+ Employees.

In his personal time, Mr. Taylor volunteers as an elder, Men's Ministry Coordinator, and Sunday School teacher for his church.

Colonel Tracy Tynan organized and executed the most ambitious and successful campaign in the history of Tinker Air Force Base. He provided the leadership and motivation to oversee the preparation, implementation, and coordination of the campaign for more than 28,000 employees. This included personally meeting with the leadership of 59 organizations to request their support. He also recruited volunteers, conducted coordinator trainings, arranged bus tours of various participating agencies so coordinators could learn more about the nonprofit community, and secured weekly articles in the base's Tinker Take Off newspaper.

A campaign video was made available through the base's intranet. Every time an employee logged on they were given the option to watch the video, which included a personal message of support from Major General Loren Reno, Commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. To congratulate and recognize outstanding organizations and coordinators at the conclusion of the campaign, Col. Tynan held a Victory Celebration where organizations were awarded a plaque from Major General Reno. The result of this work led to a $51,000 increase in pledges and a 6% increase in participation.

Col. Tynan has served as an active duty member of the Air Force for the past 25 years. Although he currently resides in Oklahoma City, he works diligently to recruit and train mentor candidates for The Citadel and, his alma mater, The Military College of South Carolina. He has also volunteered as a lay person at his church and was the co-chair of a read-a-thon to raise funds for muscular dystrophy awareness.

As a 2007 keyworker, Rick Wilson achieved 190% of his 2007 goal. He did this by engaging employees in activities, such as an annual softball tournament that raised more than $2,500. He also involved himself in all other Shipyard events by helping to plan, coordinate, and work an event in any capacity needed. He also lent his marketing talents by designing and creating advertisements, delivering supplies and setting up and running events. Not limiting himself to the Shipyard, he assisted another base by singing for their CFC Kick-Off Barbecue.

Mr. Wilson is very civic-minded and is involved in his son's "pee wee" teams, as well as his local police and firefighters charitable efforts. In addition, he and his wife donate products and services from their personal business to numerous community events, and he helps senior citizens in his community by providing carpentry services free-of-charge. His generosity and willingness to get involved in the community makes him a role model for others.

Back to Heroes and Innovators Awards