USA: Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Workers Make Record Donation for Combined Federal Campaign

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers surpassed expectations by pledging $715,451 to charities during the 2011 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC).

“It’s a new record for the Shipyard,” said Brendan Cravalho, project officer for the command’s CFC, during a live early-morning interview Jan. 26 on local Fox-affiliate KHON2 TV. “All together, federal employees in the Hawaii-Pacific area donated $6.4 million (to CFC.) I’m proud to say that what (the Shipyard) raised was 11 percent of that total.”

The Shipyard was recognized earlier as a silver-level awardee at the Hawaii-Pacific area CFC ceremony Jan. 13 at Camp Smith. The Shipyard received the award after 51 percent of its 4,860 civilian and military workforce pledged an average of $286 per donor.

The CFC is an annual fund-raiser throughout the federal government that, in 2011, supported more than 2,700 approved charities. Donations are made through many local campaigns like the Shipyard effort that took place last October and November.

“If not for the caring heart of the Shipyard donors, we would never be able to achieve this milestone,” Cravalho said. “I really want to thank all of the donors for their generosity.”

He also acknowledged his team of assistants. “Mahalo plenty to the unit project officers and keypersons,” he said. Unit project officers, such as Financial Technician Mildred Harrison, Secretary Kimberlee Peterson, and Shipfitter Charlotte Fernandez led and coordinated the campaign within their respective work areas, he explained. The keypersons, among them Electronics Mechanic Apprentice Anastasia Kritikos, Shipfitter Ricky Ray Saribay and Information Systems Technician 3rd Class Ashley Stevens, did the actual outreach to their fellow employees.

“Keypersons are the heart and soul of the fund-raising effort,” he said. “It’s a hard thing to do ― to ask someone to give money.” However, the one-on-one contact is essential to the campaign. “That personal touch is key to success,” Cravalho said.

Donating to CFC through the Internet became possible for the first time during the 2011 campaign. Sixty-four donors chose that option to pledge an average of $430 per person. “On-line giving has great potential as on-line donations are all made via payroll deduction,” Cravalho noted. “We didn’t push it (in 2011) but we intend to in 2012.”

Cravalho has coordinated the Shipyard’s CFC since 2001. For eight straight years, donations broke previous in-house records for giving, culminating with an all-time high of $712,000 in 2008.

The new record amount raised in 2011 came from 2,500 contributors, 400 less than in the 2008 campaign.

According to Cravalho, the big difference between how the CFC was run before he took over and how it runs now is “the shops and codes manage the campaign in their own area. … If we’ve been successful, it’s not because of me, I’m just the cheerleader, trainer and motivator.”

With few exceptions, the civilians and Sailors who assist him in the CFC change every year. Cravalho conducts the pre-campaign training sessions, “I try to convey what giving (to CFC) means, It’s educating people about how important it is to give, not how much they give, and … with payroll deduction, it’s an affordable and easy way to give.”

Sharing his personal perspective, Cravalho said, “I’m thankful for the blessings I have. I look at the homeless on the streets and I think, that could’ve been me. I see (on TV) all of the disasters happening in our own community as well as around the country, and I am thankful for my good fortune. The majority of employees here care about people. They see the same things I see and want to make a difference too.”

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is a full-service naval shipyard and regional maintenance center for the U.S. Navy’s surface ships and submarines. It is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii with a combined civilian and military workforce of about 4,850 and an economic impact of $925 million. Strategically located in the mid-Pacific, the Shipyard is about a week of steam time closer to potential major regional contingencies in East Asia than sites on the West Coast.

[mappress]

Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, February 7, 2012;