DOE NEWS RELEASE
 
DOE-Idaho Leads Regional Combined Federal Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2007

Media Contact: Brad Bugger, (208) 526-8484

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office is once again leading the regional Combined Federal Campaign, which is the only sanctioned charitable campaign for all federal employees.

Idaho Operations Office staff evaluates applications from local non-profit organizations who want to be included in the Combined Federal Campaign, to make sure they meet the guidelines. These include being certified 501(c)3 (non-profit) organizations whose overhead costs are 25 percent or lower. The office also provides several loaned executives who go out to federal agencies throughout the region and explain the benefits of the campaign.

Finally, DOE’s Idaho Operations Office collects and tallies the donations from all the federal agencies in the region. The Intermountain Combined Federal Campaign includes 2,100 federal employees in a region that stretches from Salmon, Idaho, in the north to Jackson, Wyoming, and Yellowstone in the east to Malad, Idaho, in the south.

“The Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office has been the lead for the Combined Federal Campaign in this region for 12 of the last 15 years,” said Jan Ogilvie, the regional director for the campaign and a DOE-Idaho employee. “Our employees have always taken a lot of pride in supporting the non-profit agencies in this region who help so many people.”

Idaho Operations Office employees are also leaders in giving to the Combined Federal Campaign. With this year’s campaign winding up, DOE employees pledged $57,810, an increase of more than $9,000 from last year.

“I appreciate the generosity of our employees, both in giving their time and their monetary pledges to the Combined Federal Campaign,” said DOE Idaho Operations Office Manager Elizabeth Sellers. “Our employees have a strong sense of responsibility to the communities in which they live, and they demonstrate that through giving.”

In addition to leading the Combined Federal Campaign, Idaho Operations Office employees give back to their communities in other ways. Each year, they adopt local families or individuals who are struggling economically, and purchase Christmas gifts for them. This year, the Idaho Operations Office has adopted several senior citizens and six families.

Idaho DOE employees also donate their time by providing tutoring services to students at Bush Elementary School in Idaho Falls. A total of 14 DOE-Idaho employees spend time at the school tutoring students in math, science and reading. In addition, three employees tutor students in School District 93. DOE-Idaho employees also participate on the board of several Idaho Falls community organizations.

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