Washington’s Secretary of State Sam Reed will visit the Pullman campus next week to help kick off the 2004 Combined Fund Drive. CFD departmental representatives, as well as other employees, are invited to attend the event, 10 a.m.-noon Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Lewis Alumni Centre, which will include food, door prizes and awards to past participants and volunteers.
“Glass Ruler” awards honoring 5-year CFD volunteers will be made to Kristi Abbott, Career Services; Rod Clausen, Natural Resource Sciences; Janet Heter, Management Information Systems; Carol Ivory, Fine Arts; Maggie Kettwig, Economics, and Nial Yager, Ferdinand’s.
Campaign co-leader Lisa Gehring emphasized that the primary focus of the campaign is to see the number of participants increase.
“People need to remember that even a $1 a month contribution pledge can make a world of difference to people in need,” said co-leader Dave Schmidt. “In the past, some campuses, like WSU Spokane and the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing, have competed with each other to generate the highest participation levels.
Here’s how participation levels looked last year:
• Pullman 469 out 5438 (9%)
• Vancouver 17 out of 218 (8%)
• Spokane 53 out of 198 (27%)
• Tri-Cities 37 out of 139 (27%)
• ICN Spokane 40 out of 117 (34%)
• Coop Extension/Research Stations 68 out of 647 (11%)
Overall, CFD participation levels declined universitywide in 2002, with contributions falling to their lowest level in the last five years:
Year Participants Total
2003 788 $146,644
2002 832 $161,616
2001 846 $155,263
2000 840 $145,407
1999 872 $143,189
“I’d like to encourage all WSU employees to attend the Combined Fund Drive kickoff and to participate in this year’s campaign,” said President V. Lane Rawlins. “Sharing with others who are in a time of need reflects an important part of who we are as a university, and it can make a world of difference in someone’s life.”
Contribution levels vary widely from person to person, depending upon a wide variety of factors. However, out of 667 contributors in 2002, here’s how giving levels looked:
$100 a year or more, 424
$200 a year or more, 212
$300 a year or more, 118
$400 a year or more, 68
$500 a year or more, 42
$600 a year or more, 36
The Combined Fund Drive (CFD) is the charitable organization within Washington State government, see http://www.wsu.edu/wsucfd. The annual state campaign is an 18-year-old tradition. Participants can choose to target their giving to any of 1,600 charities serving local, state, national and international communities. A list of particiipating charities can be found at http://hr.dop.wa.gov/cfd/CharityList/catset.htm.
For more information about the fund drive, contact either of this year’s CFD co-leaders: Lisa Gehring, 335-0166, or David Schmidt, 335-2158.
