Podcasts about combined federal campaign

The news seems pretty grim these days. But federal employees have their annual opportunity to improve the lives of people they've never met. The Combined Federal Campaign is underway. Joining me with the outlook, the chair for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The news seems pretty grim these days. But federal employees have their annual opportunity to improve the lives of people they've never met. The Combined Federal Campaign is underway. Joining me with the outlook, the chair for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. Forces Korea Command Sgt. Maj. Jack Love speaks to U.S. Army Sgt. Rasmyyah Green, a broadcaster and DJ assigned to American Forces Network Humphreys, during a radio interview on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Oct. 3, 2024. Love talked about the 2024 Combined Federal Campaign, which is the official workplace-giving campaign for Federal employees and retirees. The campaign has raised approximately $8.7 billion for charities and people in need throughout the world since it was created.

Combined Federal Campaign coordinator for Fort Stewart, Kurtis Cherry, joins us to discuss the CFC which runs from October through January, and federal employees can donate either a one-time or recurring contribution to any of 4500 plus charities participating or choose to dispense donations amongst them all. Federal employees, New hires, Federal retirees, or Federal contractors, can go to cfcgiving.opm.gov and make a difference in local communities, across the nation, and around the world.

The Combined Federal Campaign recently wrapped up its annual effort with a Finale & Awards Ceremony. It signifies another year of giving monetary pledges or volunteering for charitable causes. To get a sense of how much was given last year, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Vince Micone, co-chair of the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Combined Federal Campaign recently wrapped up its annual effort with a Finale & Awards Ceremony. It signifies another year of giving monetary pledges or volunteering for charitable causes. To get a sense of how much was given last year, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Vince Micone, co-chair of the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(3/28/24) - Federal employees donated more than $68 million to this year's Combined Federal Campaign. The DoD abortion policy, that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) objected to, cost about $44,000 last year. And two lawmakers call a recent telework protest "hypocritical." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(3/28/24) - Federal employees donated more than $68 million to this year's Combined Federal Campaign. The DoD abortion policy, that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) objected to, cost about $44,000 last year. And two lawmakers call a recent telework protest "hypocritical." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Guess what? It's not too late to help out the Combined Federal Campaign. New year, new opportunities for contracting protests. What is really like on the planet Venus? Ask this NASA scientist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just because the Christmas season is in the rear-view mirror, doesn't mean you can't still give. In fact, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) continues until January 15. For a summary of the most recent campaign, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the chair of the CFC for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Guess what? It's not too late to help out the Combined Federal Campaign. New year, new opportunities for contracting protests. What is really like on the planet Venus? Ask this NASA scientist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Just because the Christmas season is in the rear-view mirror, doesn't mean you can't still give. In fact, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) continues until January 15. For a summary of the most recent campaign, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the chair of the CFC for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode President Dimondstein will share APWU's statement on Palenstine, a reminder to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign if you so choose, a brief update on Network Modernization, and what's ahead in 2024. This episode also includes a special "voices from the field" segment where workers weigh in on their experiences during Peak Season.   Enjoy the episode and share with your coworkers and union family!   Solidarity! 

(9/27/23) - In today's Federal Newscast: The leaders in the U.S. Senate have an agreement. Now what? Since 2020, IRS chatbots have assisted over 13 million American taxpayers. And the 2023 Combined Federal Campaign is ready to take your donations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(9/27/23) - In today's Federal Newscast: The leaders in the U.S. Senate have an agreement. Now what? Since 2020, IRS chatbots have assisted over 13 million American taxpayers. And the 2023 Combined Federal Campaign is ready to take your donations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(1/13/23) - In today's Federal Newscast: A soldier has been sentenced to 42 months in prison for $3 million in PPP loan fraud. New recommendations are out on how to collect sexual orientation and gender-identity data. And the clock is ticking on your chance to donate to the Combined Federal Campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(1/13/23) - In today's Federal Newscast: A soldier has been sentenced to 42 months in prison for $3 million in PPP loan fraud. New recommendations are out on how to collect sexual orientation and gender-identity data. And the clock is ticking on your chance to donate to the Combined Federal Campaign.

The Combined Federal Campaign had a successful giving season earlier this month. Now it's trying to keep the momentum going. For what's happening locally, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the chairman of the CFC for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone.

This week on the 35th Episode of the MilCyberSync Podcast: Post Quantum Cryptography, DOD Zero Trust Strategy, NSA/Cybercom Dual-hat, plus an interview with CSM David Redmond (Ret) on his career and the Combined Federal Campaign.

The 2022 Combined Federal Campaign hosted its virtual kickoff earlier this week, which means federal employees can now start donating their time and money to causes of their choice. To learn what's in store for this season, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with Vince Micone, the chairperson of the Combined Federal Campaign in the National Capital Region.

In today's Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management is giving all federal workers the option to contribute to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

In this episode, Tyler talks with Aurea Franklin about her time in service and what led to her writing her book Silent Freedom. A Memoir of Service with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Iraq.  In this memoir, Aurea details her time spent with the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She discusses life as a soldier—abroad and at home—and the triumphs and difficulties that come with it.Silent Freedom is a story about love and loss, purpose and faith. It will take you to the darkest corners of the war zone in Iraq while demonstrating how faith and hope for a better future can make a difference.Available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.Visit Aurea's website at silentfreedom101st.comMEET AUREA FRANKLINAurea retired from the 101st Airborne Division, Air Assault (AASLT), and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for four years: two tours with the 101st and two years as a civilian contractor. She received numerous medals and awards, including two Bronze Star Medals for meritorious service in a combat zone. The first Bronze Star was received while she was with Bravo Company, 101st Soldier Support Battalion, serving as a Casualty Liaison Team Leader for AASLT in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in Mosul, Iraq (2003-2004). The second Bronze Star was received for outstanding performance as Human Resources NCOIC, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, COB Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq (2005-2006). She holds three master's degrees: two Masters of Business Administration and one Master of Public Administration. She works in Washington, D.C., and continues to support various veterans programs. She is proud to be a lifetime member of the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC), previously serving as chairwoman of FAPAC's Mentoring Program and currently serving as Committee Advisor.Aurea believes in the concept of giving back to the community through charity. She is an active participant of the Combined Federal Campaign and believes in showing love to others because her chain of command when she was in the U.S. Army treated her the same way. She is also an active parishioner in her parish in northern Virginia and in Washington, D.C., and serves as a lector. Stay up to date and gain early access to new podcasts and upcoming events by signing up for our newsletter at Coming Home Well NewsletterCheck out our other podcasts: Beyond The Frontline, Be Crazy WellFollow us on IG @cominghomwell_bts and @behindtheserviceFacebook at Coming Home Well or Behind The ServiceLinkedIn at Coming Home WellThank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode! Coming Home Well listeners can get 10% off by visiting betterhelp.com/cominghomewellSupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=DPPU22JG5EM6Y)

The holiday season is just a memory now as the winter settles in. Also in the rear view mirror is the Combined Federal Campaign. Turns out, for the national capital region, federal employees crushed it, with donations exceeding the goal. For details, CFC national capital region chairman Vince Micone.

Federal employees may not all be in the office for the second holiday season in a row. But your generosity is undeterred by the pandemic. In fact, in the recent giving Tuesday you really shelled out. Both dollars and volunteer hours. We get the latest from the chairman of the National Capital Region Federal Coordinating Committee, Vince Micone.

The Combined Federal Campaign celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The national capital region boosters hope they can build off last year's first all-virtual campaign and beat the $37 million local federal employees donated during the pandemic. Vince Micone is executive director for enterprise services at the Commerce Department and the co-chairman of the National Capital Region's local CFC coordinating committee. He told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko what the region learned from last year's campaign, on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Colonel Lance O’Bryan talked about the 2021 Combined Federal Campaign and the DFMWR Job Fair. Suicide Prevention Program Manager Shirley Johnson talked about Suicide Prevention…

2007 Annual Report   Big Cat Rescue is more than just a place that provides permanent care for big cats.  It is a movement;  a change in the tide of human perceptions and is the combined effort of more than 74,000 supporters.  If you are one of them, you are a Big Cat Rescuer and the following is the great work YOU did!  If you haven't helped yet, you can do so now at the top right of the screen or here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/donate.htm   Big Cat Rescue's Mission Statement:  To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.   Advances:  Combined Federal Campaign Best of the CFCIn late November we conquered the web site issues that have made our site inaccessible to all browsers other than Internet Explorer resulting in a 33% increase in the number of pages viewed by the 2,510,255 visitors to our bigcatrescue.org site in 2007 and 1,147,174 visitors to our www.CatLaws.com site for a total of 3,657,429 online visitors in 2007.  Big Cat Rescue is increasingly listed in world wide publications as a “must see” in Tampa.  Began the permitting process for the wall we have been raising money to build for the past 4 years.   Big Cat Rescue has been accepted into the federal version of the Combined Federal Campaign. Where we could only be in the local books in years past, we will be in every book that goes out to government employees as a choice for their auto deduction giving. Not only were we accepted, but we were also awarded with the Best of the CFC seal. In the local market we receive upwards of $7,500.00 in donations, so we are hopeful that we will do even better by going national. We are extremely grateful for this opportunity and thank those of you who are participating   For the first time in our history, Big Cat Rescue offered a reward for information. When a tiger was found shot to death along side an apartment complex and busy highway in Dallas, TX on Christmas day, we announced a $5,000.00 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of the people involved. The police and animal control authorities told us that they cannot offer such bounties and that our doing so greatly enhanced their ability to pursue the case. See the video plea http://bigcatrescue.org/video/b42008/5000reward.htm   Animal Care:  Rescued four tigers left to die at the now defunct Savage Kingdom.  (TJ, Bella, Modnic & Trucha) Watch this dramatic rescue here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/video/b42008/savagekingdom.htm  Built & remodeled cat-a-tats for them.   Rescued two lions (Joseph & Sasha) and two tigers (Nikita & Simba) from the now defunct Siberian Tiger Foundation which was nothing more than a thin guise for Pay to Play with tigers.  Read about that rescue and see the video here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/rescuelionsandtigers.htm  Built & remodeled cat-a-tats for them.   Rescued four native bobcats in four weeks.  (Ace, Chance, Kennedy & Will)  Read about their rescue and what is being done to send them back to the wild here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/rehabbobcats2007.htm  Built & remodeled cat-a-tats for them.   Rescued a Savannah cat (Diablo) who was abandoned and living in an animal shelter that was not designed for long term care of exotic cats.  Assisted in the rescue of another Serval and Bobcat and another two Tigers, finding them permanent homes in facilities that meet the guidelines set out at  http://www.sanctuarystandards.com/   Vernon Stairs finished all of the new safety entrances to cages.  He built tunnels on the lions cages, Precious Bobcat and The Great Pretender Bobcat, and others to enable easy shifting and introductions.  Vern doubled the size of Jumanji the leopard's cage and added a cave and mountain.  He joined a number of cages to each other to provide more room for the cats to roam.  Catera Bobcat got to move in next to his mom and dad in a huge double sided enclosure.   Began renovations to Auroara the tiger's 1 acre, lakefront home to provide better drainage and a hurricane room.  Began work on a hurricane shelter for Nyla leopard after moving her next to her brother, Simba after years of them being separated.   Moved Bailey Bobcat in with Anasazi and Moses the Bobcats.   Moved Rose Caracal to a double cage and introduced her to Cachanga Caracal.  Moved the African Civets to Bailey's old cage after it was civet-ized.  Reintroduced Dances with Wolves and Shatia the Canada Lynxes.  Our cats are altered so that no accidental births will occur from these groupings.  Spayed Zabu the white tigress and Bella the tigress.  http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00143.htm   Raked the entire park before freezing weather to try and kill fleas and eggs and may switch products again as efficacy is fading.  Refurbished all 18 pools and one of them twice thanks to TJ the tiger being an absolute maniac when it comes to chasing fish.   Every year the cats get pumpkins to smash after Halloween  http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00062.htm, but this year they also got Christmas trees  http://bigcatrescue.org/video/00162.htm.   Staff and Volunteer Training:  In addition to our monthly, on site volunteer training courses, Tiffany Deavor took several online training courses, Scott Lope and Dr. Liz Wynn are scheduled for Safe Capture course, Sharyn Beach, Howard & Carole Baskin and Susan Mitchell attended D.C. conference on effective grass roots efforts.  Carole continues to take online courses and audio seminars to enhance her efficacy in legislation and leadership.  Fine tuned some of our training methods and tracking.   Education:  Joined the International Tiger Coalition with the mission of preserving 10,000 tigers in the wild in the next ten years.  More about that here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/internationaltigercoalition.htm   Assisted WNET and SeaStudios.org in ascertaining the number of big cats in the U.S. for their film about a world without humans.  As there is no government agency responsible for tracking these animals, it falls to anecdotal evidence that we have been compiling for many years.   The illegal portion of the 15 billion dollar trade in exotic pets is second only to the market for illegal drugs. In 2005, some 210 million wild animals were brought legally into the U.S. and many more were smuggled, because there are just 120 USFWS inspectors to cover 39 International airports and all of the border crossings. In just the legal importations, that means each inspector must view and approve the health of almost 15,000 animals per day, every day of the year.  Big Cat Rescue provided the photos and resources for an eBay guide to let buyers and sellers know that it is illegal to trade in many exotic cat furs.     We also provided this information to the World Wildlife Fund in Poland to enable them to train their border guards to recognize endangered cat species that are frequently smuggled through customs. Provided bobcat and Canada lynx photos and info for a scientific training / educational presentation on wildlife awareness for Environment Canada.   Cambridge University Press selected Carole Baskin's article on Cause Related Marketing for their Professional English in Use Series textbooks called Professional English in Use – Marketing.  It is a new addition to the Profession English in Use Series that is a self study reference book that will be used for classroom work and tutoring. Cambridge included Baskin in their 2008 Who's Who Among Executive and Professional Women “Honors Edition.” as well.   We implemented our first Artificial Intelligence V-host on a page called Ask the Cat where you can type in any question and the virtual cat will answer you in an intelligent way:  http://bigcatrescue.org/askthecat.htm  All of our species information pages were recorded and now each page offers the visitor the opportunity to read and/or listen to the information.  This can be downloaded onto mP3 players as well.   Jamie Veronica's photos of cougars were requested by wildlife biologist Anna Huckabee Smith, AWB for use in her 5 year status report for USFWS and Wildlife Trends which will be covering the topic of captive cougars being turned loose when they are no longer wanted as pets.   We harnessed the powerful mapping technology available with google maps and posted online, interactive maps that show the accredited and non accredited facilities (mostly back yard pet owners) who keep dangerous big cats.  It took four maps to hold all of the information, but they can all be accessed online here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/map.htm  This was offered to the FWC as they had stated they would be releasing this data online soon, several months ago, and this saved them the time and effort.  It will be helpful to the media when tracking maulings, killings and escapes and to emergency response personnel in the event of natural disasters.  Until now, this information has not been immediately accessible to fire fighters, the police or animal services.   Visitors:  In 2007 Big Cat Rescue had 26,497 visitors for guided tours.  16,424 were adult tours that generated $409,587.03 which is up 2.62% from last year.  Our biggest leap was in our kids tours for families with children under the age of 10 and with 3,271 participants that was up 44.31% and generated $54,668.60.  All of our tours are guided and are educational.  Our Education Program also convenes camps, special field trips and such and those were attended by 4,969 and generated $66,309.71 which is an increase of 15.37%.  In keeping with our desire to give back to the community we provided 27 free field trips for Title One schools and others on a needs-based application.   Prices:  Because we were nearing  capacity at the end of 2006 we raised our prices considerably in 2007.  This slowed our growth sufficiently to keep the sanctuary a serene home for the cats but increased our bottom line.  Prices were raised from $20 to $25 for adults and from $12 to $15 for children under ten.  All of our specialty tours were raised to $50 from $25.  Our supporters understand that as word spreads about Big Cat Rescue being such a magical experience people have been flocking here, and that we had to raise the prices in order to keep the number of guests down to a reasonable roar.  The added benefit is that people who visit really are committed to the animals and we are not just another tourist attraction.   Legislation/Education:  Presented testimony, statistics and charts to the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commissioners in Destin, Key Largo and St. Petersburg, asking to ban contact with big cats and their babies and to allow counties to enact more restrictive rules to protect the animals and the public.  Presented testimony, statistics and charts many times to their staff at planning sessions before and after the Commission meetings.  Provided the same to the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking.   Testified at a Congressional briefing about the need for Haley's Act, a bill to ban contact with big cats.  The International Fund for Animal Welfare liked the presentation materials so much that they asked permission to reproduce them for their own legislative use, which was, of course, granted.  Presented a slide show on using the secret, the law of attraction, to assist in lobbying efforts in the exhibit hall at the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, DC.  There were 950 registrants and many more visitors throughout the two day exhibit.   Through our online video marketing we are educating more people in a week than we have visit the sanctuary in a year!  We are changing the way people think about animals and as a result they are acting more compassionately.  The recent outcry at Michael Vick's involvement in dog fighting shows that people care about animals more than ever before.  As wonderful as that is, however, it isn't enough.   Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Legislation can't change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless.”  Knowing this to be the case, we are using our online marketing to change legislation too.   In December 2003 we had to turn away more than 300 unwanted big cats and every other year that number was doubling.  That same year a new law, that we helped pass, banned the sale of big cats as pets across state lines. The following year, for the first time ever, the number of abandoned big cats dropped to 160.  We decided, then and there, the only way to stop the suffering and abuse was through the creation of better laws that would ban the private ownership of lions, tigers and cougars as pets.  Thanks to the laws enacted below, the number of abandoned big cats in 2007 has dropped to 72.   By December of 2004 we launched a new section of our website www.CatLaws.com that would enable people to learn about pending bills and enable them to connect to their lawmakers to ask for laws that would protect our communities while ending the suffering and abuse of big cats.  We believed that if people knew what was happening and knew how to help that they would.   Directing the traffic to the legislative sections had to be more creative however, because by and large, people don't want to think about politics.  The cat's stories and their photographs had to be compelling enough to overcome this typical aversion to legal matters and we feel that we have had considerable success in doing that since we have been able to track 1,147,174 visitors to our legislative pages in 2007.  The combined number of visitors, between our main web site bigcatrescue.org and our legislative website, is now 10,020 visitors per day with an average of 4 pages viewed by each visitor or roughly 40,000 page views per day.  Our peak day in 2007 was March 15 with 55,184 page views.   The next step was to get a person to take action by composing a letter to their congressman and that is even harder yet, but we believe the numbers speak for themselves:  33,596 letters were successfully sent from the legislative site asking for better laws to protect the community and to end the suffering and abuse of big cats kept in backyards and basements.  The Legislative Action Center report shows a steady, quarterly increase.   The results are measurable in more than just statistics however.  In the past 2 years seven states banned the private possession and barter in big cats and the numbers we have to turn away continue to drop. The USDA has issued policy statements against the private ownership of big cats and against heretofore accepted practices such as walking a 500 pound cat on a leash in public and allowing people to pet big cats at fairs, malls, parking lots and schools.  Details on these here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/lawsbigcatbans.htm   USDI issued their new rules that went into effect in September 2007 that ban the transportation of big cats across state lines by non USDA entities.  They also defined a sanctuary as a place that provides a permanent home and does not breed, sell, trade nor allow public contact with the big cats.  Before now there was no definition of a sanctuary and many places that were adding to the problem were doing so under the guise of being sanctuaries.  The language used by USDI is practically verbatim from our web sites at bigcatrescue.org and SanctuaryStandards.com.  http://bigcatrescue.org/laws/lawscaptivewildanimalsafetyact.htm   In 2007 the Florida legislature unanimously agreed to impose a $10,000 bond on anyone in the state who exhibits big cats.  This bond is used as a surety in the case of injury to the public and can be used by the FWC to care for dangerous wild animals when they have been abandoned.  Big Cat Rescue had been a strong proponent of this bond and our supporters, via our CatLaws.com site had made their wishes known to their legislators.  On July 2 Governor Charlie Crist signed the bond requirement into law and the FWC drafted the rules to enforce the new law in 2007.   The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission put together a task force to review their policies that still allow the breeding and selling of big cats in the state with only the addition of a $40.00 USDA permit.  Public opinion polls on our web site indicate that  76% of those polled would support a ban on all exotic animals as pets.  That same percentage also agrees that hunting should be outlawed.  Florida's Wildlife Conservation Commission is funded almost entirely by issuing hunting permits and permits to people to own exotic animals so the fact that they are reviewing their own policies in view of changing public opinion is certainly measurable  evidence of Big Cat Rescue's impact on this very serious situation.   The FWC staff announced that they are making recommendations to the Commissioners that include proposed rules:   1. Raise the classification of a cougar from a Class II pet to a Class I animal that may not be kept as a pet. 2. Prohibit contact between big cats and their babies in accordance with the new federal bill that is pending which would ban the practice. 3. Prohibit transport of big cats to flea markets, parking lots, etc. 4. Require that exhibitors have all of their animals on exhibit as there is a current issue of meeting the letter of the law by exhibiting one animal while warehousing dozens more in minimum size cages that would appall the public. 5. Require Class II owners to secure a $10,000.00 bond as is now required for Class I.   As mentioned above, there is a federal bill called Haley's Act HR 1947 that is gaining momentum in the U.S. House and is expected to pass this session.  This bill is being broadly marketed by Big Cat Rescue because it will ban contact between the public and big cats, including their babies.  Baby tigers and baby lions are bred to be used as photo props and for petting sessions and then are discarded when they get too big.  This bill would stop the unscrupulous breeding for this industry and ultimately would end the biggest cause of the over abundance of big cats in captivity.   Using the email targeting feature of the CatLaws.com site we were able to convince the Medieval Fair to not allow a shabby traveling circus to set up shop by having our supporters write Hunsader Farms, the owner of the property, and telling them how they feel about such abuse.  3,236 of our online supporters sent letters to the Chinese government urging them to ban the farming of captive tigers for their fur, bones and organs.  All of these advances have been made possible by getting our message out to the people who can make a difference.  See below how we got the message out.   Fundraising and Marketing:  We were in the press 85 times.  Howard Baskin was featured in the Nov. 5th issue of U.S. News & World Report for his charitable work with Big Cat Rescue. http://bigcatrescue.org/000news/aboutbcr/usnewsandworldreport.htm   Scott Lope was quoted in Newsweek about the escape of Tatiana the tiger from a zoo where she mauled three young men and killed a teenage boy. http://www.newsweek.com/id/82067/page/1   Awards:  In January of 2007 Big Cat Rescue was awarded the People's Choice Award by WEDU, our local PBS affiliate. We won again in Jan. 2008.  More than 80 charities competed in a 16 county radius for this award, but Big Cat Rescue took 31% of the vote.  Next year the contest is going national.  Won Parenting Magazine's Best of Tampa Bay Award.  In August Big Cat Rescue was Change.org's Pick of the Month.   TV:  Animal Planet show called Ms. Adventure aired our episode in March and Real Strange aired in Europe.  The first episode of “Big Cat Rescuers” ever aired on: April 11, 2007 cable channel 19 7:00 PM and April 15, 2007 cable channel 20 6:30 PM.  This one hour episode was created by our own Jamie Veronica, Brian Czarnik and Honey Wayton, and features several of our keepers, partners and of course, Scott Lope our manager. Our big cat expert Scott Lope was interviewed on the History Channel's MonsterQuest‘s search for the elusive big black cats that are frequently reported roaming wild all across the U.S.   Roar and Rolling:  Lindy Melendez with EGS Printing has generously donated a van “wrap” that is valued at $5000.  See the stunning artwork here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/images/EasySt/van/index.htm  The wrap was done with a lot of love from everyone at ESG Printing.   Memory Lane:  Our cemetery was transformed from a pitiful little hodgepodge of cage placards to a wall of memories created in stone and inlaid with marble headstones that feature a laser inscribed image of the cat, his or her date of birth and death and the sponsor of the plaque.  This was done as a fund raiser for the living cats and in its first year generated enough money to support a tiger for a year.  Thanks to Babs Riddle the grounds were luxuriously sculpted to include gardens, a shell path and benches where our volunteers can rest and reflect on the lives they have known who continue to inspire them.  Great marble lions that were donated to us now flank either side of the impressive entrance.  http://bigcatrescue.org/foreverremembered.htm   Google:  In today's fast paced environment we have to stay quick as a cat and be as entertaining as a basket full of kittens.  We have found mini videos, or podcasting, to be our most effective way of marketing our message.  On July 8, 2006 we launched our first video on google.  We now have 195 live videos playing and have had 183,514 viewers.  Our most popular video is an hour long film about all of the plights faced by exotic cats in the wild and in captivity and it has been played 51,357 times.  None of our tracking can tell how many times people play our videos on their iPods after downloading them.   YouTube:   (the fastest growing web site in the world) In August of 2006 we launched our YouTube account and have 72 of our videos playing that have been viewed 1,752,846 times.  We have 881 subscribers to our videos with more joining all the time and are the #2 Most Viewed (All Time) – Non Profit and #9 – Most Subscribed (All Time) – Non Profit.  In late December we launched two additional sites dedicated to our Educational Department and our Animal Communicator.   MySpace: myspace.com/1BigCatRescue In August of 2006 we launched our MySpace account and are one of the top ranked sites as we have 221,617,683 in our network who have visited our profile page 22,928 times and we have 4,276 subscribers to our videos there. MySpace has become such a popular portal that it now ranks in the top 10 list of referring sites that send visitors to our main website at bigcatrescue.org.  That ranks our own MySpace account just behind such powerful referrers as the google, yahoo and aol search engines.   VEOH:  In 2007 we began posting our videos to Veoh.com   We have 143 videos playing and these videos are getting thousands of plays each.  Veoh is the next generation in T. V. viewing.  Videos can be watched in low resolution for free, or for a fee can be downloaded in high resolution and watched on a television set or computer.  We post most of our videos as a free download, but post PSA's in high resolution so that the media can get b-roll from us instantly for less than the cost of mailing a disk.   We now film, edit and post 1-2 videos each week.  Our videos have been so popular that they have been picked up for use on Current TV and many online content providers.  In addition to our online video marketing we have been in the press 427 times and if you haven't heard of the Fur Ball, you don't watch TV, listen to the radio or read the papers.  We have been blessed with complimentary ads from all of the biggest media outlets such as Cox Radio, The Tampa Tribune, The Tampabay Business Journal, the Maddux Report and the St. Pete Times to market our biggest annual fundraiser each year.  We also have Public Service Announcements running on Brighthouse cable TV and nationally on Animal Planet.   Search Engine Ranking:  Our goal was to increase the number of web visitors by increasing our web site's visibility on the Internet.  The most dramatic breakthrough was in revamping the underlying html so that browsers other than IE could view the site.  The second more important feature was implementing navigation that enabled visitors to see every level of our 12,000+ file site.  Even though this was not accomplished until November the pages viewed increased 33% in 2007 when the even though the number of new visitors only increased by 12%.  For the first time in history we have risen to the top page of google's search page for the keyword “tigers” and are number 18 of more than 43,000,000 competing sites.  To see the ranking on our most important key words visit:  http://bigcatrescue.org/get_more_hits.htm   Party of the Year:  That's what a lot of people in the know call it.  The Fur Ball netted more than $120,000.00 with a sell out crowd of 700 people.  That's up $80,000.00 over last year!  See the entire recap including photos of Bo Derek and our colorful, cat themed guests here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/000archives/2007FurBall.htm   Saving Wild Places for Wild Cats:  The Jaguar Trust.  Trapping is the furthest thing from our mission, except when it comes to camera traps for tracking and aiding wildlife. Our own Big Cat Rescue president Jamie Veronica went to Guyana, South America with a fellow volunteer on a mission for the sanctuary. Jamie and Justin Boorstein were in Guyana for ten days setting new digital camera traps with video to track Jaguars, Ocelots and Pumas. Our partner, Foster Parrots, tells us that with the recent import ban of all birds into Europe, Guyana now finds herself in a position to change the long practiced wildlife export industry there. Many trappers are finding that there are no markets for their “products”! Many of these trappers now find themselves unemployed and the government may start to look at the potential revenues of eco-tourism to fill the gap. If we can make a concerted effort with our conservation project we hope to serve as an example and to garner the support of Guyana to create the world's premier rainforest destination. Our plans include the promotion of our project here in the US and a marketing strategy to heighten the visibility of this important move in Guyana.   Visitors to Guyana will have a choice of tour itineraries ranging from an ambitious 3 and 4-day Kanuku Mountains hike that will bring them to the realm of the Harpy Eagle, to more leisurely tours that will encompass sightings of Red Bellied, Scarlet, Red and Green, Blue and Yellow Macaws, Giant Anteaters and a wide variety of primates.   Horseback and canoe excursions will let tour groups experience the wilds of Guyana at an intimate level.  Visitors can also travel to Kaeiteur Falls to witness one of the world's tallest single-drop waterfalls of 741 feet.   Construction on the first of two planned lodge complexes, located in Nappi Village, has been completed by the local tribes with funds from Foster Parrots and Big Cat Rescue. Contact SaveTheCats@bigcatrescue.org to spend your vacation dollars saving the wildcats in the rainforest.   Africa:  President Jamie Veronica and volunteer Barbara Stairs also toured Africa to see the issues first hand that have resulted in game parks being virtually the only lands left that house wild cats.  She will work with relatives there to check out sources for offering handmade products in our gift shop that could help preserve wildlife there as we currently do in the Jaguar Trust.  (Barbara Stairs funded this excursion)   Since 2005 Big Cat Rescue has provided both funds and volunteers to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya .  Lewa relocates problematic wildlife to protected areas and provides education to children in the area who would not otherwise be able to read or write.  In addition to the funds that Big Cat Rescue donates, we also provide a U.S. market for Kenya ‘s craftsmen and send clothing with our volunteers to distribute when they visit.  Our volunteers take their skills and attitudes of compassion for all life into these barren regions and share a message of hope.   China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Pakistan:  Every year since 1997 Big Cat Rescue has donated to the countries that are home to the Himalayan mountain range where the elusive snow leopard is found.  One whole corner of the gift shop explains how the sale of items made by the villagers helps save the snow leopard in the wild.  In 2006, Dr. Tom McCarthy, the Conservation Director for the Snow Leopard Trust, came to Big Cat Rescue to explain just how crucial each sale was to protect these exquisite cats.   The snow leopard lives in regions where the average person makes the equivalent of $1.00 per day.  Most of the people who share the same highlands with the snow leopard are herders and to them, the loss of one sheep or goat can mean the difference in their survival.  Most of the snow leopards that are killed are retribution killings; meaning that the cat has been blamed for killing one of the herd and the herdsman has killed the next snow leopard he saw.  The herdsman can eat the cat and sell the hide for 25.00 which for them is a month's wage.  There are many other middle men along the way who are anxious to get their hands on a snow leopard pelt or penis for the Asian medicinal trade or for the black market.   The pelt dramatically becomes more valuable as it goes down the line and can cost $5,000.00 or more to the final buyer.   The Snow Leopard Trust members in China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Pakistan work closely with the local people to find out what they need.  In some cases, they can create handicrafts like those we sell and make five times what they can make from herding.   The programs are structured with reducing reliance on Snow Leopard Trust funds for each consecutive year and to remain in the program the community must ensure that no snow leopards are killed.  If anyone in the community kills a snow leopard, the entire community risks losing their right to participate in the program for a year and that is enough to keep everyone watching out for the snow leopard.  Their claims of protection must verified by the game wardens and governmental agencies who actually have incentives to discover poaching because they are often paid a portion of the confiscation if they can catch a poacher.     Big Cat Rescue is the second largest retailer for Snow Leopard Enterprises.   We collected fecal samples from our captive snow leopards for the Snow Leopard Trust to use in training dogs to be able to tell one wild snow leopard from another just by sniffing the scat left behind.  This will greatly enhance conservation efforts and is a cost effective method as well.  The video we produced is being aired on our sites, and also being used as a marketing tool for the new program and the Snow Leopard Trust.   The U.S. State Department enlisted our help in saving the critically endangered Amur Leopard because of our ability to reach so many people who care about wild cats and their habitat.  You can learn all about what is happening with the Amur Leopard & Tiger here:   http://bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/leopard_save.htm. For more details on our International work visit:  http://bigcatrescue.org/000archives/2007AttachmentAInternational.htm   Other:  Big cat breeders, dealers, collectors and exploiters hate us because as we educate the public about the truth behind their abusive practices such as breeding white tigers, ligers or babies for photo booths their profiteering opportunities are drying up.  There is no justification for their activities so their only recourse has been to file a plethora of false complaints with authorities who regulate us and to make false accusations to anyone who will listen.  The only gain they could expect was to keep us busy proving ourselves so that we would be diverted from our mission of ending the abuses that result in so many unwanted big cats.  Now the regulators are on to them as we have proven time and again our integrity which is illustrated in our perfect inspection reports and our continued accreditation by The Global Federation of Sanctuaries and the Better Business Bureau.  Only one media outlet in 2007 repeated their slanderous accusations, but the article went on for many pages explaining that the reason such libelous statements are made is likely due to our success in exposing the activities that result in Florida having the highest incidents of maulings, killings and escapes by big cats.   Created pages devoted to the cats who have live and died in cages here with tributes from the keepers who loved them and who work ceaselessly for their freedom:  https://sites.google.com/site/bigcattributes/home  Thanks to the work of our AdvoCat LaWanna Jones we added hundreds of new e-Cards here:  http://www.bigcatfun.com/ecards/  and added hundreds of new online puzzles, new bookmarks and hundreds of new free online games here: http://bigcatrescue.org/game/games.htm.    Then and Now  Our CFO, Howard Baskin, compiled a ten year snapshot of the sanctuary and its growth.  This is just a comparison between 1996 and 2007.   Wildlife on Easy Street to Big Cat Rescue   1996            2006 Visitors                                                                              85                26,497 Total Expenses                                             $1,686,386           *$708,607.00 Total Income                                                                     $0           $1,236,237.00 Total Net Assets                                       $148,455.00           $2,419,227.00 Spent on Program Services                               100%            91% ** *funded by Founder        **4% spent on Management and 5% spent on Fundraising   Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2007 and meetings: • CEO and Founder  Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR) • President and Chairman of the Board Jamie Veronica • Vice President & BOD Cathy Neumann (not compensated by BCR) • Secretary Jen Ruszczyk (not compensated by BCR) • Treasurer Howard Baskin (not compensated by BCR) • Director Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM  (not compensated by BCR for her role as a Director)   Paid Staff:  We went from 3 paid staff to 7 and now provide worker's comp insurance.  We still can offer no other benefits than the peace of mind in knowing their work is changing the world. • Operations Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Scott Lope $35,000.00 incl. bonuses • Staff Manager, Editor & Creative Director Jamie Veronica $24,700.00 (compensated but not for her work as a member of the board) • Social Science Director Brian Czarnik $18,400.00 (leaving for Chicago early 2008) • Gift Shop & Guest Services Bridget Czarnik $18,400.00 (leaving for Chicago early 2008) • Gift Shop & Guest Services  Honey Wayton $22,800.00 • Intern Director & Lead AdvoCat Tiffany Deavor $25,000.00 • Education Directors Dr. Beth Kamhi & Coleen Kremer $14,000.00 combined • Vernon Stairs Cage Builder and Maintenance $35,600.00 All of our animal care is done by volunteers or by staff who also volunteer time before & after work.   Volunteers:  Big Cat Rescue had 107 volunteers in 2007 who clocked in 57,302 man-power hours in addition to staff and Volunteer Committee member hours.  Roughly the equivalent workforce of 27 more full time staff.  Created the S.A.V.E. award for Scratch's Award 4 Volunteer Excellence.  The recipients were January – Julie Hanan, February – Cathy Monroe, March – Tiffany Deavor, April – Glen Yancey, May – Kym Marszal, June – Merrill Kramer, July – Barbara Frank, August – Marie Schoubert, September – Edith Parker, October – Babs Riddle, November – Anne Canterbury and December – Angie Gabor (the first Red Shirt to ever win)  Winners of the S.A.V.E. award are allowed to direct $500.00 to the cat project of their choice.  Created pages devoted to our dedicated volunteers at:  http://bigcatrescue.org/hero/000hero.htm and our 2007 Volunteer of the Year is Barbara Frank.   I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

2006 Annual Report   (Bo Derek was at the 2007 Fur Ball so this image is out of sequence. )   Big Cat Rescue's Mission Statement:  Big Cat Rescue's dual mission is to provide the best home we can for the cats in our care and educate the public about the plight of these majestic animals, both in captivity and in the wild, to end abuse and avoid extinction.   Advances:  Big Cat Rescue qualified for the Combined Federal Campaign's National book and was certified by Independent Charities of America as one of the Best in America.  This means that any government employee in the country can choose Big Cat Rescue from their 2007 gift guide next year to receive auto-deducted donations from their paychecks.  We have been longstanding members in the local campaign but this will expand our exposure from the sun-coast area of Florida to the entire United States.   In January Ringling Bros. Circus announced in the Tampa Tribune that they had dropped tigers from their new show and that if the format was successful they intend to drop the big cats from their other acts as well.  The UK announced the end to tigers and other big cats in traveling shows. Jamie traveled to Guyana, South America to help set up an eco-tourism lodge to save jaguars, ocelots, jaguarundi, margay and others in their native habitat.  She began camera trapping and instructed local Amerindians in how to change the film and mail the results to us.  She has been camera trapping in the U.S. as well and has participated with wildlife offices to help catch poachers.  Read more about what we are doing to save cats in the wild at http://bigcatrescue.org/conservation.htm   Big Cat Rescue was welcomed into the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) bolstering its global Member Society network. WSPA now has 692 affiliated organizations in 142 countries and there are only 50 US members and most are Humane Societies. The WSPA is the world's largest federation of humane societies and animal protection organizations. Through direct field work, campaigning, legislative work, education and training programs, WSPA strives to create a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty ends. We are proud to be inducted into this membership.   Animal Care:  Thanks to oversight by our Operations Manager, Scott Lope, and the devotion of more than 100 well trained volunteers, the cats continue to thrive.  Our enrichment program has advanced from once a week per cat to twice to three times per week per cat. Thanks to Jen Ruszczyk coming in before work, after work and on weekends, 57 of our 142 cats are now in the operant conditioning program with expertly trained volunteers. Thanks to Dr. Wynn, DVM and Dr. Wadsworth, DVM, our cats have been healthy and Cheetaro the leopard was neutered and Zabu the white tigress was spayed.   We rescued a Jungle Cat hybrid and reunited him with his owner.  Scott Lope and some volunteers rescued a local neighborhood from a marauding python and found a home for him as well.   Staff and Volunteer Training:  Sharon Marszal went to eBay school and then trained Bridget Bolger as her replacement. The intern and volunteer programs continue to evolve and this year included interns from Canada, Wales, CA, MA, NY, OR, PA, & VA.   We hosted Tom McCarthy of the Snow Leopard Trust as he shared breathtaking photos of snow leopards that he has been studying in the wild for more than 15 years.  We support the Snow Leopard Trust through our gift shop sales of items made by the local villagers.  Big Cat Rescue is the second largest retailer for Snow Leopard Enterprises, despite the fact that many huge zoos are also retailers.  We hosted Snow Leopard Trust's CEO Brad Rutherford subsequently and entered into a co-branding campaign where we sell, and allow the Snow Leopard Trust to sell, our Snow Leopard Screensavers with all of the proceeds going to snow leopard conservation. We shipped 100 of the screensavers to them as our donation and we continue to offer them in our gift shop and online.  Read more about snow leopard conservation at http://bigcatrescue.org/snow_leopard_save.htm   Several of our staff and volunteers attended the Carnivore Conference hosted by Defenders of Wildlife and were happy to get to spend some time with Jeff Corwin and Dr. Alan Rabinowitz.  The volunteers staffed a booth there to expose others in the animal world to the work Big Cat Rescue is doing for both captive and free roaming wildcats.  Three of our volunteers, including Susan Mitchell, attended a course in effective, mainstream lobbying sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.   Education:  We brought in two new Educators: Beth Kamhi and Coleen Kremer who work as a tag team to cover all of our educational outreach and field trip activities.  They provided 171 field trip tours for 5,263 students and hosted 60 summer campers on site.  Beth and Coleen were able to add mini camps during holidays to our already popular summer camp. They did outreach presentations to 60 schools and other educational venues reaching tens of thousands more people.  With help from our donors we were able to offer 43 of these outreach programs for free.   Our new zoning from 2004 allows for a Natural History Museum so we took the remains of cats that have died over the years to be taxidermied so that these rare cats will still be able to educate future generations.  We filmed portions for an expose on the small cat and hybrid cat trade.  We created a new Education brochure and inserts with the help of some donors who specifically asked to help with our Education Programs.  With the help of AdvoCat, Robin Kitzmiller, we were able to put the Cat in FCAT by offering a complete online resource of K-12 study guides that teach the necessary skills for kids to pass the FCAT in Florida.  Pass it on to your favorite teacher here http://bigcatrescue.org/teachersresource.htm   Shere Khan was the cover cat for Big Cats the USBorne Discovery Internet Linked book by Jonathan Sheikh-Miller and Stephanie Turnbull.  This book was discovered in the Dead Zoo in Dublin, Ireland by Jamie Veronica while she was visiting there and is available world wide. Click on the photo to order your copy. AdvoCat, Lawanna Jones, created and we began distributing the Child Safety ID Kit at the Fur Ball and to the principals of all of the area's schools.  We have approached a number of child protection organizations to achieve a cooperative marketing program of this important tool.   Laura Lluellyn-Lassiter joined our volunteer force and is known as an animal communicator.  She has helped give insight as to the true nature of the cats and produces her own blog called Cat Heart Whispers on our blog page.  She works with our cinematographer, Brian Czarnik, to produce regular episodes of Animal Talk that can be seen here http://bigcatrescue.org/podcats.htm  If people knew who these cats really are inside, they would not support industries that use them as props.   With the professional voice talent of supporter, Bonnie-Jean Creais we were able to add audio options to our educational pages about the different species of cats. There are a number of reasons why this is helpful.  Children learning to read, can play the audio while reading the text to learn more difficult words.  The visually impaired can click on the large image link and listed to the information without struggling to read.  The audio can also be downloaded via subscription to our RSS feed at http://savethecats.hipcast.com/rss/animaltalk.xml that enables a person to listen to the information on their iPod or other portable player.   Our White Tiger page continues to be the most popular page on our site (after our main page) accounting for 7% of all of the visits to our 17,000 page site.  We believe that this has had a tremendous impact on the white tiger situation because the price of white tiger cubs (which can only be produced through severe inbreeding) has dropped from $30,000 to $3,000 and the American Zoological Association has come out publicly against the practice of breeding and exhibiting white tigers. Breeders are giving away adult white tigers because the public now knows the dirty little secret behind white tiger breeding.  If you don't know it yet, check out http://bigcatrescue.org/white_tigers.htm   Legislation:   • Ban big cat contact to save human & big cat lives • While escaped big cats are being shot in Ohio • Those who are responsible for breeding so many excess lion and tiger cubs are pimping them out at an OH mall  • AdvoCat News for October 2011 • Meet 3 new tigers, see a purrsonal tribute to Steve Jobs, vote for us to win $25k and more  • Cubs Dragged From Mall to Mall. • Ask these mall owners to consider the lives these poor cubs endure and end big cat displays at their properties.  • YOU can be a part of the most thrilling rescue of the year!  • Most Important Comment Period Ever to End the Trade in Generic Tigers! • Ask USFWS to Rescind the Generic Tiger Exemption. You only have until Oct. 21 to Comment.    With the help of our supporters sending 30,765 letters we promoted state bills to ban the exploitation of exotic animals and several federal issues to curb the breeding, buying, selling across state lines as well.  In 2006 sixty state bills were passed to protect animals and 11 were defeated that would have endangered animals.  Thanks to all of our supporters who sent 2,282 letters asking for it, the USDA enacted rules to prohibit declawing big cats, barred walking big cats on leashes, banned using expired medicines on exotic cats and prevents shooting cats as a form of acceptable euthanasia.  The USDA also stepped up their enforcement by shutting down 9 facilities this year as compared to only 3 in the prior two years.  Three more states banned private possession of exotics in 2006 and seven countries enacted laws to protect the big cats including the banning of circus acts, barring possession of big cats as pets and closing down canned hunts.   The API did an excellent under cover investigation into the private possession that is espoused by Phoenix Exotics and the Feline Conservation Federation. Carole Baskin presented HB 1459 and SB 990 to Committees in Tallahassee on April 17th and 18th and she attended a luncheon with Senator Robert Byrd in Washington, D.C. She spoke at Capitol Advantage's conference in D.C. on smart strategies for building advocacy influence.  As a result of the speech, the President of the American League of Lobbyist, Paul Miller, has joined our Advisory Committee and has agreed to donate his time to helping us end the abusive trade in big cats.  Attorney Jowita Wysocka has also agreed to donate her time to researching cases to help us promote Haley's Act, a bill to ban contact with big cats.  She and Paul have both joined Big Cat Rescue and IFAW in starting the Big Cat Caucus.   Patricia Massard took over the daily posting to the Big Cat Rescue Yahoo group, which now has 157 members and to all of our blogs at http://bigcatrescue.org/blog.htm   Fundraising and Marketing:  Thanks to a couple of HUGE cat lovers, Big Cat Rescue got its first donation of $30,000.00 from a single family foundation.  Many other large donors stepped up this year as well with $10,000.00 donations each.  Through our participation in the Chrysler Birdies Championship we were able to get a matching grant in the amount of $10,000.00 and were one of the top performing charities in the league thanks to all of you who earmarked your donations to this program.  Thanks to Cynthia Montayre, the gift shop on-site and online grew exponentially.   WEDU awarded Big Cat Rescue as second runner up in to the Top Charity in their 16 county viewing area at their first annual Be More Awards.  We were originally selected because of our excellence in Marketing but were included in the overall Top 5 based upon the scope of what we do and the way we do it.  We have been chosen for inclusion again for 2007.   Howard Baskin joined the Downtown Tampa Rotary and has been a speaker at the Center Club.  We are attending a lot more Chamber meetings and joined the Governmental Affairs Committees in two of the Chambers.  We were featured in A Kid's Guide to Giving (ISBN 1-58476-489-9) by Freddie Zeiler as one of 100 kid approved charities.  The Fur Ball had more than 500 attendees and netted more than $52,000.00.  As always it was THE party of the year!   TV Stars:  Our most exciting innovations have been in the movie realm.  Big Cat Rescue was granted its own weekly, half hour, regular series on cable T.V. and will air its first episode soon.  Jamie Veronica, Brian Czarnik and Honey Wayton took the courses necessary to bring top quality nature films to T.V.  You can already see mini clips online at http://bigcatrescue.org/podcats.htm.  These mini movies, that run from 2 minutes to 1 hour in length, are available online at Google Videos, My Space, You Tube and VEOH.  Just type in “Big Cat Rescue” and you will find us in all of these hot social networking sites.  Brian Czarnik has been cranking out at least two episodes each week to keep the content fresh and has been responsible for the upkeep of these sites and several more behind the scenes.  All of these are available through iTunes now too.  People just can't get enough of seeing their favorite cats!   Big Cat Rescue was specifically mentioned in the press 117 times (that we know of) in 2006.  This included such media as, The Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Associated Press, Geraldo At Large, Der Spiegel and Glamour Magazine.  Big Cat Rescue was also pivotal in supplying background information on the number of people killed and mauled by captive cats to reporters from ABC's Prime Time 20/20.  Read all of the headlines here: http://bigcatrescue.org/news.htm   Thanks to coordination efforts of Julie Hanan and more than 50 volunteers, Big Cat Rescue provided a gift wrapping station at Borders Book Store for the weeks leading up to Christmas.  They raised over $5,000.00 for the cats and handed out thousands of brochures and newsletters.  This good-will effort cost our volunteers valuable family time during the holidays, but they did it to spread the word about the plight of the big cats.  Barbara Frank has become our Wedding planner and has hosted 12+ weddings at Big Cat Rescue, raising $8,000.00 for the cats this year.   Charity Guide:  Big Cat Rescue is now featured in Charity Guide's Directory of volunteer opportunities. Our organization appears in the “How to Make a Difference” section of Charity Guide's article titled Big Cat Rescue: Save Exotic Felines. Charity Guide publishes an editorially reviewed directory of opportunities to make a difference – which influences the volunteering decisions of over half a million “would-be volunteers” per year. Inclusion in their directory is based on research and extensive evaluation.   Our database of visitors and supporters has grown to a little over 45,000 and Catherine Monroe has been crucial in keeping that list up to date.  Our Ezine recipient list has grown to more than 26,000 and AdvoCat, Christy Anderson, keeps them posted monthly on the happenings at Big Cat Rescue.  We were the recipient of a Google grant that gave us $1,187,258.63 in free advertising that resulted in over 200 million impressions and 2,800,000 click throughs to our website. At the peak of this grant period our website was receiving more than 1,000,000 hits per DAY.  We are now averaging about 30,000 page views per day, according to Google Analytics, and have a continuing grant for $15,000.00 a month in Google advertising.   Grounds Improvement:  Our entire Board of County Commissioners voted in favor of Big Cat Rescue's rezoning of 3 acres to allow for more onsite intern housing, overflow parking and access to a paved road.  This access allows us to move forward on the major zoning that we had approved two years ago because much of the actual building was contingent upon us securing alternative access.  This year we added room for four more interns and an indoor area where we can offer air conditioned facilities for parties and weddings at the sanctuary.  This indoor area is also used for our monthly meetings in inclement weather, and as an area where we can offer video showings, slideshow presentations and meeting space.  It augments our small E-Center so that we can accommodate larger school groups.  Before now, if children come for a field trip and it is raining, they have to stay on the bus, but now they can come inside, see a video about the sanctuary and then as soon as the rain lets up go out and meet the cats. This area is a 2800 square foot mobile home with a 1500 sf covered patio and decks.   We built a new Cat-a-tats for Alachua Bob and Nairobi the Serval. With the help of a lot of donors we completed the new Cat-a-tats for the orphaned cougar cubs.  Shatia and Dances With Wolves, the Canada Lynx, both got new cage additions and a gateway to each other with the hopes that these two old females can one day live together.  Flavio's pool had to be rebuilt and the waterfalls for both he and SARMOTI had to be rebuilt.  Hurricane shelters that double as safety cages were started for Banjo, Bean, Mocha and Thing, the bearcats.  Many of the cages were painted to prevent rust and lots and lots of flowering bushes were planted around the cages to attract butterflies and to provide shade as they grow up and over the tops of the enclosures.   We built up the paths and dug out and landscaped retention ponds to alleviate muddy paths for next rainy season.  We shored up our sinking wall along the lake side and improved the road so that we can drive entirely around the property for better patrolling purposes. We began construction on a wall of memories for the cemetery.  The stone wall has marble plaques that are laser engraved with the names and photos of cats who have passed on.  These also bear the name of the Forever Sponsor who donates 500.00 two the purchase of the plaque.  See how you can be forever remembered here at http://bigcatrescue.org/foreverremembered.htm   Helping Others:  We provided offsite housing for Humane Alliance members who have come here to help ACT set up a low cost spay and neuter center and offered to transport animals to and from the clinic once a week for the rescue groups.  We hosted team building events for the Emergency Animal Response Service group and gave them 150 free passes to give to all of the volunteers who help in times of disaster nationwide.  We donated to all of our favorite animal causes (too many to list) giving them Expeditions and Free Passes to auction off to help them raise money to provide services for domestic pets.  The Humane USA PAC (the nation's largest political action committee for animals) hosted its Kids, Cats & Candidates day at the sanctuary.  We donated an Expedition to raise money for our long time supporters Mario & Lenore Infanti who are facing health issues.   When our beloved tiger, Nini, died Brian Czarnik wanted her to live on and so we sponsored a tiger in the wild in Way Kambas Park.  The money donated will help protect the tigers in this critical reserve.  We worked with the Smithsonian Institution in a project to examine the population biology of small carnivores in Gabon, West Africa and Borneo.  We hosted a party and raised more than $1000.00 to aid the campaign that would require the government to provide emergency plans for people who won't leave their pets. This bill became law in 2006 and will protect America's pets in times of disaster.  We also sent proceeds from our Fur Ball to Lewa Conservancy in S. Africa and invested in creating eco-tourism in Guyana, South America to protect the wild cats in that area.  At the request of the World Wildlife Fund in Poland we have provided photographs for them to use in creating a handbook for border guards to prevent the illegal trade in exotic cats and their pelts.   Other:  Merrill Kramer took over our ink recycling program and reports income of roughly $2,000.00 per month now.  You can learn how your old ink cartridges can save cats here http://bigcatrescue.org/ink   Jim Haaf, art director of the Jaycees showed his support for our mission without even asking as is evidenced by this wonderful park bench that we discovered alongside the road.  When Howie called to find out who to thank, he discovered that they have donated two of these lovely benches to us.  We are so grateful to all of our supporters who look for unique ways to express their devotion to our mission.   Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Chris Simms brought a group of children from the Children's Home to visit Big Cat Rescue.   Officers and Members of the Board of Directors in 2006 and meetings: • Founder, CEO, and Board Chairperson   Carole Baskin (not compensated by BCR) • President and Director Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR) • Vice President & Director Cathy Mayeski (not compensated by BCR) • Secty and Director   Jen Ruszczyk (not compensated by BCR) • Director Brian Czarnik (not compensated by BCR) These members met for monthly board meetings.   Paid Staff: • Operations Manager  Scott Lope (compensated but not a member of the board) • Gift Shop Manager Cynthia Montayre (compensated but not a member of the board) • Administrative Bridget Bolger (compensated but not a member of the board)   Volunteers:  Big Cat Rescue had 107 volunteers in 2006 who clocked in 32,000 man-power hours in addition to staff and Volunteer Committee member hours.  Roughly the equivalent workforce of 16 full time staff.   I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

2004 Annual Report     Advances:  The biggest advance in our history was this year when we went from “Tampabay'sBest Kept Secret” to a Household Name in the local area. This was due largely to the great media exposure donated by six local Cox Radio Stations. Hillsborough County gave us big green directional signs in 5 locations to direct visitors to our door. For the first year ever, in our 12 year history, we were able to cover all of the sanctuaries expenses from its own income! Thank you everyone! Howard Baskin was able to find a reasonable CPA, Marsha Weiss, and an accountant who completed an audit for our finances for grant writing purposes. This enabled us to apply to the Combined Federal Campaign and to apply to the online version of The Better Business Bureau called Give.org. Christy Anderson launched our first E-zine that carries AdvoCat issues to 5000 subscribers and links to our electronic version of The Big Cat Times. Jamie finished a movie that was nearly five years in the making called “The Big Cat Picture“. This has been widely distributed and 2 minute clips on every species of wild cat has now been added to our website from the movie. We wrote a 20 year plan and began taking steps to reach our goal of eliminating the cause of so much suffering and abuse.   Animal Care:  We took in five new tigers and a lion, but had to turn away 114 big cats. We submitted our anesthesia machine parts to have one usable unit rebuilt.  We built 5 new Cat-A-Tats with pools and dens and another multi-acre enclosure with dens and a pool.  Built new dens for Esmerelda, Tobi, and Little Feather and cage enhancements for Sultan, Canyon, Genie, Maharajah, Bailey, Scratch, Baby Cakes and Hercules. Shere Khan and China Doll got a hurricane shelter and we repaired cages that were badly damaged from the four hurricanes in six weeks. The Enrichment team is growing stronger and more professional in their collaboration with others, such as Disney, to help write a comprehensive Enrichment Guide. Operant Conditioning has been led by Jennifer Ruszczyk with marvelous results.   The cats are learning their cues and are much easier to handle for check ups. All of the volunteers have retaken their animal care classes this year and have re certified their credentials via testing. Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM has been donating time every week as a liaison to Dr. Stacie Wadsworth, DVM. We began using Truly Nolan for regular flea spraying and for rodent control with marvelous results.   Staff and Volunteer Training:  Attended the USDA's Big Cat Symposium.  Jamie Veronica attended AZA's weeklong college course, Managing for Success. Jen, Howard and Carole attended and presented Operant Conditioning and Cage Building at The Association of Sanctuaries' annual conference in Stone Mountain, GA. Susan Mitchell attended Karen Pryor's Clicker Expo and spent some time with Gary Priest from the San Diego Zoo and quite a bit of time with his top trainer of cats.  Susan also completed the Safe Capture course that some of our staff attended last year. Our volunteer program was overhauled to create an administrative branch for the first time in our history. We now have red through green level requirements on both the Keeper side and the Partner (admin) side and the proud recipients of those levels of accomplishment.   We began our first Intern program with three interns. Cathy Mayeski has been screening applicants from around the world and by the year's end we have had 3 successful graduates from the program and two of them moved here to stay in the volunteer program. By the year's end we have 6 full time interns and by next year hope to have 12-15. They have come from Wales, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Peru and all across the U.S. The interns work all day, six days a week for three months in exchange for housing and the experience of a lifetime. They are a volunteer force unto themselves and now have their own Den Mother, Gale Ingham who keeps them busy and makes sure they get the most out of their time at Big Cat Rescue.   Education:  Hired Kathryn Quaas as our new Education Director and started offering regularly scheduled kid's tours every Saturday at 9 AM. Summer Camp 2004 was a big hit. We created, with the help of creator LaWanna Jones, and a grant from Ken and Terri Pereira, an interactive CD called The Truth About White Tigers and distributed 1000 free copies. With the help of PeTA we were able to distribute 1000 copies of their CD about veganism.   Produced a new screen saver called 12 Tigers that has tiger photos and facts. Created an online game with the help of Point 2 Nature that children will be able to access online for free. It is a memory game of matching the cats with their fur and their sounds for fun fact rewards.   Created hundreds of pages of online games, puzzles, calendars, free screen savers, quizzes, polls and colouring activities for children of all ages. These interactive games are part of our campaign to reach the schools and day care centers with activities to teach children about animals and to inspire awe and respect for their beauty and their rightful place in nature. Our Big Cat Expedition continues to be our most pervasive educational tool and Susan Mitchell has trained countless people in the Operant Conditioning program portion that we offer to illustrate the medical needs of the cats and how we meet them. Our tours continue to increase and this allows Denny Mitchell, Brian Czarnik, Bill Lewis and many other great tour guides to educate people about the plight of these animals in the wild and in captivity. The most frequent response that we still hear from guests is “I had no idea!”.   Legislation:  We reviewed the Captive Wild Animal Coalition‘s proposed sanctuary standards and wrote and submitted the sub section specific to felid care based upon a compilation of our own standards, those of ACE and Florida's Fish and Game.  We assisted Animal Control's approach to the State of Florida in an effort to require owners of dangerous exotic animals to post on their property the dangers that exist and to allow the public to easily determine if their neighbors are harboring dangerous animals.  We began promoting a page on our site called Support Legislation and AdvoCats.   We partnered with Capitol Advantage to create the first and only online presence in the Animal Welfare industry that is promoted on MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Congress.gov, PBS, the LA Times and E-the-People. In just the first days of creation is already responsible for about 30 letters per day going out to legislators on important animal issues that are currently pending including: Stopping canned hunts, prohibiting steel jawed traps and asking USDA to quit issuing licenses to people who are circumventing the new 2004 law that prevents the sale of big cats as pets. We noted a drop in the number of big cats being abandoned. Every year the number of big cats in need of shelter was doubling and by 2003 we were turning away 312 exotic cats. After the passage of the Captive Wild Animal Safety Act in Dec. 2003 that prohibited the sale across state lines of big cats as pets that number dropped to 114 abandoned cats in 2004. We posted a composite of all state laws and enabled viewers to go directly to their state's online regulations. Our founder became a major donor to the only Political Action Committee fund for Animal Welfare issues called HumaneUSA.   Fundraising and Marketing:  We purchased a new Point of Sale system with cash register and inventory software.  Implementing this software has enabled us to better track inventory, sales and trends. On May 19 our web site received 29,724 page requests to be our largest day ever. By the end of the year our site is currently averaging about 100,000 hits per day. Jamie and Howard attended Scott Moller's Fundraising Seminar in Tampa and Howard, Carole and Jen attended Scott Moller's Fundraising Seminar in Stone Mountain, GA. Scott Lope and Daniel Capiro have been working closely with players of the TampaBay Lightning to raise awareness. Thanks largely to the lion vs tiger ligers thousands of dollars in radio air time donated by six Cox Radio stations, our Fur Ball attracted 850 guests and we netted 50,000.00 as well as had a Roaring Good Time. Jamie created our first Holiday Card with a collage of the cats for our use and for sale in the gift shop. The Adoption Kits have been so successful that she has had to order them by the hundreds from a printer, rather than printing them one page at a time on her computer as she has done in the past.   Our online giftshop sales soared from $7,914.00 in 2003 to $32,351.00 in 2004. We began monitoring news alerts at Google for exotic cat issues and proactively writing in to the media. We were in the press 63 times compared to 35 times in 2003. Our newsletter The Big Cat Times (formerly Cat Tales) is now in color and goes out quarterly to 23,000 supporters.   Grounds Improvement:  At our January zoning hearing, 96 people wrote letters of support and 47 attended the hearing and spoke in support of the fine work we are doing on a global level. At the second hearing more than 200 supporters came to stand before the Board of county Commissioners in favour of Big Cat Rescue's planned development. In the past we had to haul 30 bags of trash, twice a week to the end of the road. This year we managed to get our very own dumpster on site. We moved the golf cart shed, tore down the old green barn and re-routed the fencing to increase parking area. We repainted the cabins, food prep, painted the E-Center and repainted several of the cages. We installed new signs on the buildings so that they are consistently called by name in our documentation and training manuals and to avoid confusion. Sentry Signs enabled us to put new signs on most of the cats along the tour path that states their name, species, date of birth and how they were rescued.   We began a fence improvement campaign called the Catter-Wall. Two marble lions were donated for our front gate and we may have someone willing to donate a new front entrance next year. Food Prep was tiled and had gutters installed all the way around. Kiss Cote was applied to the Leopard Cat-A-Tat as a rust preventative trial model in March. The roads were reinforced to prevent inaccessibility to certain areas in the rainy season. We started the process for adding a 4 bedroom, 3 bath dormatory for interns. We upgraded to broadband and now have a wireless Internet connection available for guests.   Helping Others:  We covered ad costs for The Association of Sanctuaries annual conference in March to insure that the people who need the training will know it is available.  We also paid expenses for three of the speakers on Cage Building, Operant Conditioning and the No More Homeless Pets approach to companion animal abandonment.  We shared the secret to our high search engine placement with TAOS and CWAPC and members of both organizations. We joined the Sanctuary Workers And Volunteers Association SWAVA and provided material for them to launch their campaign. We send out news alerts to everyone in our new Yahoo group and in the TAOS Yahoo group and include a Tip of the Day feature in which we share ideas that have worked for us. We gave permission to Florida's state government site, at their request, to use our photos to illustrate why we should protect the Florida Panther.   Charities that we donated to this year:  100 passes to No More Homeless Pets Adopt-a-thon and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition, 50 passes and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition to Florida Voices for Animals, 50 passes to Clearwater High school's Project Graduation, 100 passes to Dress For Success, 300 passes to The National Humane Societies spay/neuter and adoption programs.  Big Cat Expedition to Clearwater Chamber of Commerce's annual fundraiser. Donated a Big Cat Expedition and several Two for One Passes to Animal Coalition of Tampa for their Spay Day fundraiser. Big Cat Expedition for two and 200 passes to the Tampa Museum of Art. 1000 passes and a 1500. Expedition Package was donated to the Global Understanding's Carousel Ball. There were many, many more that we donated to this year that we did not keep stats on.  We offered to let No More Homeless Pets – HC and Florida Voices for Animals utilize our legislative program in a manner that is branded for their constituents.   Other:  Carole Baskin represented The Association of Sanctuaries at the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition's conference in San Francisco and was made The Association of Sanctuaries liaison to The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition.  She served as the interim President of the Association of Sanctuaries in 2004.    2004 was a grrreat year and we are looking forward to an even better 2005!!!   The narrow mission of Big Cat Rescue is to provide the best permanent home we can for the limited number of abused, abandoned and retired big cats that the sanctuary can afford to take in. However, the sanctuary must turn away over 100 cats per year and the number is growing.   The broader mission, therefore, is to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abandonment and abuse by educating as many people as possible about the conditions that lead to the plight of these animals. We do this through our tours of the sanctuary, our school education programs, our 2100 page website that receives viewers from all over the world, by supporting species preservation efforts, and by providing a hands-on experience for interns from around the world.   We hope, by setting an example and teaching about how animals should be treated, that this will carry over into how we humans treat each other as well, and in doing so make the world a better place for all living creatures.   Our Officers and Board of Directors • CEO Chair of BOD and Founder  Carole Baskin • President Jamie Veronica • Vice President & BOD Cathy Mayeski • Secty/ Treasurer  Vernon C. Stairs • Director and Operations Manager  Scott Lope • Director and Coordinator Brian Czarnik The current board of directors will serve until December 31, 2005. Between now and then, staggered terms of four years and five years each will be set by the existing Board of Directors to insure the uninterrupted good work of Big Cat Rescue.   The financial audits for 2004 are posted here and include total income in the past fiscal year, expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and ending net assets.   Income   Gifts and Contributions cash:   232,597. Program Service Revenue:    314,143. Inventory Sold:  48,076. Rental Income:   31,718. Interest & mortgages     85,041. Events income:   39,631. Total income for the year   751,206.   Expenses   Animal Care:    363,798. Employee Benefits:         74. Payroll Taxes:     4,650. Accounting Fees:       3,525. Legal Fees:        17. Supplies:    39,322. Telephone:   14,232. Postage & Shipping:    4,911. Equipment Maintenance:     9,970. Printing & Publications:     50,583. Travel:    1,476. Conferences:       3,443. Depreciation:    18,116. Total Expense for the year  574,906   Excess for 2004    $  176,300 Net Assets at the beginning of 2004       $ 1,142,039 Net Assets at the ending of 2004            $ 1,318,339   While this accounting appears to show a gain, it does not take into consideration money spent on capital improvements and set aside for more capital expenditures.  Our complete 990 is available online at Guidestar.org under Big Cat Rescue. Neither the Founder nor any of her family nor friends are paid by Big Cat Rescue.   I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  

Do you have a skill set? Of course you do! For example, do you love to learn?  Does that make you excited? Than that is a skill. Why does this matter?  Because your skills help you build the life you want. And of course, that keeps you peaceful and content each day. My guests on this week's podcast have lots of wisdom to share and they're doing amazing work helping others, every day. They make loving your work look easy. For Jim Elliot, the Founder and President of Diveheart, he believes (and so do I), that 90% of success is showing up.  And that there's always an opportunity.  Just keep looking, it's there. And Tinamarie Hernandez would tell anyone seeking a meaningful career, "don't chase the money - it's harder to lose later." Each day, focus on one thing and finish it, like building bricks in a building. Finally, no matter what your role, find mentors and you'll end up learning some lessons quicker. Tune in to find out what each one of them offers the world each day. I promise, you'll be inspired to do a little more every day to help people on our planet. Donate to Diveheart https://www.diveheart.org/make-a-donation Diveheart Website http://www.diveheart.org/ Diveheart news & video library https://www.youtube.com/user/DiveheartFoundation/videos Volunteer with Diveheart https://www.diveheart.org/volunteer/ Adaptive Scuba Training Program   https://www.diveheart.org/diveheart-courses/ Diveheart on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/diveheart?ref=br_tf Review us on  Great non profits http://greatnonprofits.org/organizations/browse/search:diveheart Current & Retired Federal Employees can give to Diveheart Foundation through the Combined Federal Campaign  (CFC #32225) info@diveheart.org   Check out my bestselling book below. Peace, Possibilities, and Perspective: 8 Secrets to Serenity and Satisfaction in Your Life and Career https://2possibilityandbeyond.com/my-book

Pandemic, riots throughout the nation, and a messy presidential transition, what a season federal employees have come through. Yet the annual Combined Federal Campaign carried on through it all. How'd they do? Joining the Federal Drive with a wrap-up, the chairman of the CFC for the national capital region, Vince Micone.

Howie First Looks at the Business To See How He Can Help   Thank you for a most memorable evening.  I will never look at "cat toys" the same again.   At 07:59 AM 12/16/02 -0500, Carole wrote:   I was really pleased with the following figures.  I had to compile them for the Combined Federal Campaign renewal that I just did and thought they may be of interest to your friend, as it shows tremendous growth during a time when many non profits and for profits have failed.  The year is obvious.  The next number is the number of families that have actually visited WOES.  We only fill out one release form per family, and often if we recognize a person, we don't have them fill one out if they come back within 4 years.  Some people are there every month.   The dollar amount is the amount donated by the general public in each of those years.  For the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 there was one 10,000.00 donor in each year.  The next highest, one year was 7500.00 with everyone else below 2000.00.  That averages out to 89.00 per family.   1996         34            $32,280.99 1997       159            $97,848.20 1998      1683         $176,258.15 1999      3565         $189,456.21 2000      4271         $314,738.00 2001      4982         $322,249.00 due to 9/11 2002      4382         $400,012.00   We are in the black by about 800.00 for 2002 for the very first time.  Each figure below represents how deep in the red we were for each corresponding year.   1995   164,290.09   loss 1996   154,254.01   loss 1997   149,094.80   loss 1998   222,373.80   loss 1999   101,556.50   loss 2000   281,524.00   loss 2001     34,778.00   loss 2002                           800.00 profit   As you can imagine, I am just ecstatic.  I have to donate 125,000 to 150,000 every year for tax purposes, but now that means that the money I put in can go into expanding our programs and doing so much more good than just supporting the animals that I have already taken responsibility for.  I expect 2003 to be a terrific year for promoting compassion in our community.   Our supporters come from all over.   Total number of  families  19,076 From Tampa   4276 From FL, but outside Tampa  9268 U.S. outside FL   5286 Outside U.S.  246       The more I learn about your life the more in awe I am of the struggles you have endured.  Like your cats, you are a survivor, maybe against the odds given what you have had to handle.   This is excellent!  Do you happen to have a way to easily know how much of the donations were from attendance, i.e. people donating when they visit, versus ones like the $10k that people send in unrelated to a visit?   No.  We have a cash box that gets counted down every week, but no breakdown between tours, gift shop items, etc.  We began keeping inventory records this year, so that we can go backwards to calculate the value of things "sold" (we call it a donation, so the prices vary).  This still doesn't help with knowing much about where the income is from.  Jamie was able to track 90k this year from gift shops "sales" and adoptions and memberships.  Jess is working on creating some software for us to help.  Blackbaud charges 10k for their program.  Tracking this information would help us and is on the short list of things to do.   I had the impression the sanctuary started 10 years ago?  Did it start in 96, or was there no visitor program or no records from before then?   We started in 1992 with the rescue mission, but didn't allow visitors until 1996.  Don was always dragging home people and showing off his collection and then one day someone said, "you know, you could charge for this"...   We were writing it off our taxes each year and the IRS said we had to make it profitable or else become a legitimate non profit, so I applied in 1994 and was accepted in 1995.  It took me three times because I didn't know what I was doing.  We had virtually no volunteers prior to 1995.  Don, Jamie and I took care of feeding, cleaning and vet care for over 200 animals by ourselves.  Don called it being semi retired, but I found it cause for a nervous break down every two years.  That is when I would drive to the Keys, and lay in a hammock crying for 3 days straight before coming home to face another two years.  I haven't done that since 1997.   In 1992 we began in November and only rescued the one bobcat at a cost of 680.00   In 1993 and 1994 my secretary kept track of the receipts which meant she kept them in a bag, called "animals".  When I totaled them up they came to 101,555.97 and since there was no income, that was our expense.  It was in 1997 that I compiled these and didn't break them down by the year nor category.   In 1995 I began tracking categories, such as vet bills, food and shelter, etc.   Do you have a breakdown of how this past year's funds were spent?   Yes.  Do you have a fax number?  My mother tracks this with a program that I don't have on my computer (NoteSmith) so I can only get the report by fax.  It is only one page, but a lot of detail.       Dear Howie   My reason for sending you Concentration Camp was two fold.  One, you expressed an interest in the phenomenon and the other was to justify my existence.  The latter, of course, being the more compelling.  The line from Deserata, that I most associate with the song, is "you have a right to be here."  I have never felt that and always believed that I had to justify my right to be here.  Thus the classic overachiever attitude.   My nature is to bond with one person and be the power behind the throne.  The greatest compliment that I ever received was from a fellow investor who told me that she saw Don as being "larger than life".  A newscaster recently used that term about me, but it wasn't as meaningful to me as the compliment that the investor had given.  I love the challenge of rescuing someone, or something (WOES) and turning that into something that people look up to and want to emulate.   My choices in men have been such that I can perpetuate this illusion of being loved, when in fact, I was merely needed.  I could live out this fantasy and turn a blind eye to much of what was real unless inescapably confronted with the truth.  When I hired the bounty hunter to find my husband, and all he found was a long list of Don's lovers, I couldn't ignore the truth.  It took me four months and the mysterious disappearance of my husband to fire my friend and secretary, Anne.  I didn't want to believe that people I loved could do this to me.   When I met Peter, in November of last year, he was living in a garage, had no job and I thought I had met my soul mate.  I had never used that term and never believed in the concept until the first letter I read from him.   I met him via Match.com on AOL.  From the first night we were together, he moved in.  He was a Chiropractor and Acupuncturist but had licensing problems, as I explained before.  He was able to cure some life long problems that I have had with pain and he introduced me to books that I found to validate so much of what I knew to be true about the power of the mind, but didn't know other people had experienced.  He had dreams of what he wanted to do change the world and seemed like the perfect person for me to get behind.   I took over all of his bills, sent him to contractor's school because he couldn't fix his licensing problems, and supported him entirely.  He asked me to devote myself to him alone and I did from the first day.  Three months later, I walked into the office in our home, and he was writing a letter to a woman who had sent him a nude photo of herself from Match.com.  I recognized the logo on the screen as I walked into the room.  He is as deaf as they come, so I stood there, read the letter over his shoulder, and then walked out without saying anything to him.  He didn't know I had been there.   A few days later I asked if he was still using his dating subscription and he denied it.  A few days later, I confronted him with what I had witnessed and he said that it would never happen again.  I didn't believe him, so I created an account, using a photo I pulled off the Internet of an attractive woman, and a profile that I knew would appeal to him and immediately got a response asking me to see him.  I continued corresponding with him to see how far he would take it and in no time he was trying to arrange a motel rendezvous.  I created several such "people" to be sure that he was not just in love with this one I had made to order for him and by April I had intercepted 32 solicitations for sex from him.   I am surely not that stupid; I was just that much in love (or codependent) with him and wanted some evidence that he loved me.  From January to April, I often asked him if he felt that we had moved in together too quickly and suggested if he wasn't sure about us, that I was patient and would be willing to have an open relationship.  He insisted that he wanted our relationship to be monogamous.  In April I told him what I had done and that I had intercepted 32 of his emails asking other women for sex.  I told him the free ride was over and that I wanted him to move out.   He wouldn't go.  He asked me to allow him to take his contractor's exam first so that he would have a trade to support himself and that was in June.  I agreed.  He called me from Miami when he was taking the 3 day exam to tell me he would not be moving out, so while he was gone, I packed up his things, put them in storage and paid up the bill for the next two months.  I put his personal effects in an RV that I had, set it up in a park and paid the rent for the next couple of months, so that he would have a roof over his head.  I even paid for a phone line so that he could continue looking for a woman online who would take over supporting him.   I had involved him in a real estate deal and even after moving him out, continued to correspond with him because there is 117,000.00 at stake there.  Jay Baykal didn't want me to have any contact with any man from my past and insisted that I walk away from the real estate deal.  Peter's "help" with the deal had resulted in him being sued, and I had been protecting him with legal counsel, so I told him to use the real estate proceeds to protect himself because I would not be able to continue helping him.  When Jay Baykal and I broke up, Jay called Peter and told him.  I wouldn't have.   Peter had found a woman in Sanford, whose husband was in jail and he was living with her.  The husband was soon to be released, and Peter was looking for a place to live.  He never said, but my guess is that he sold the RV.  He had discounted the 117k deal to 35k to get out of the legal mess he had caused, but couldn't get the deal to close and asked me to step in and make it happen for him.  I have been paying him to come take care of my pain issues with acupuncture, once a week, but have done it more because he needs the money than because I need the relief.   As his time draws to a close where he is, he has been putting increased pressure on me to let him move back in.  I was seeing him once a week or once every other week, but believed that if it were not for the money he wouldn't be coming here, and told him so.  He is afraid now that I won't give him the money from the real estate deal and I have been wrestling with that, since the only contribution he has made was to screw things up, but that is an entirely different matter, regarding ethics.  I would like your input on that, because of your high standards, but fear I wouldn't trust your advice because you will probably tell me what I expect to hear.   Friday he asked me why I was content to be so far from him, which loosely translated to,  "why can't I move back in?"  This was the question that precipitated the meditation.  The vision illustrated that I give of myself to others, to the point of starvation (for love) and that I entrap myself in these situations where I feel like a victim.  The escape from the concentration camp depicts my feeling of freedom for the first time in my life.  It is scary out here on my own.  I don't know where I am going.  It is cold and lonely.  But I am ecstatic at being free from this self destructive pattern.   I don't know how to be single and worse how to maintain it.  In the past I would commit to the first man that crossed my path and asked me to, and that has never been good.  The reason I feel the need to justify my existence is because you are different.  You are strong and self-sufficient.  You are capable of taking care of yourself and it spills over to the way you take care of those around you.  If any man ever deserved the devotion of a good woman, it is you.  Being with you is such a pleasure.  There is no down side, no trade off or nor compromise.  It is just wonderful.   You haven't asked me for a thing and are such a departure from what I have come to expect as the norm, that I don't know how to behave around you.  It would do no good to tell me to be myself, because my "self" has always been merely the reflection of what the man in my life needed me to be.  I don't know how to remain free of the patterns of the past, other than to not do what I have done, repeatedly without success, before.  If I continue to date others and resist becoming too emotionally involved with you, then it is different from what I have done before.  Who knows if that is better, but at least it is different.   When you say that these are not tough acts to follow, at some point you are bound to wonder why, with all that you are and all that you do, aren't you the center of my universe?  If any man in my life was worthy of such adoration it is you.  The only thing that holds me back from that is the past and not wanting to repeat it.  It hurts to feel that what you are and what you give is not appreciated and I wanted to let you know that I do recognize what a unique individual you are.  I felt compelled to justify what must seem like my profound blindness in not acknowledging your value.   On another note, I have been musing all morning about your view of yourself at a distance and how that can put things in perspective.  I have always been egotistical and prideful, and think those to be negative attributes, but never thought about how detrimental they are to the spirit until you commented how issues of acceptance and rejection are tied to the ego.  You are right and that is very insightful.  As I practice the exercise I am painfully aware of how insignificant anything I am trying to do really is.  I don't find that comforting, but I can see how it could make specific problems seem inconsequential.  The most valuable lesson I am learning from your words is that there is great benefit in doing the right thing for the right reasons, without concern for how it affects me or the way I am perceived.  There is a lot more to it than that, but I can't quite articulate it yet.   Interesting that Sydney was living out my fantasy, but at a different time than when I was thinking it.  On the way home last night I was thinking about your offer to let me sleep over.  I was thinking what a nice gesture that was on your part; but that to do so would involve me crawling all over you all night and not letting you sleep.  I didn't want you to think that your offer was not appreciated, since I seemed to blow it off with an observation on traffic patterns.  I know that I would be laying on you or hovering over you watching you sleep and that come morning I wouldn't be able to leave you alone.  (While that may be nice on occasion, you could find it a little obsessive.)  Spending the night is how all of my cohabitation nightmares have started and I really want this relationship with you to remain good.  For now it is best if Sydney live out my fantasy for me.  Perhaps she and I could exchange some remote viewing and sensing! ?  I will chase squirrels here for her.   I sense that you are understanding and patient and I am thankful to have this opportunity to come to know you.  I am fully enjoying the experience.  Carole   16 Dec 2002 08:10:09   You asked: "If you were able to raise additional money, what would you do with it?  Is there room to build more cat-a-tats so you could house more cats, or would it go for other purposes, and if so, what would they be?"   The problem of surplus exotic cats cannot be cured by building more cages.  As long as the public will pay to see a cute new cub at the zoo, or will pay to see animals perform, or will pay to have someone drag a cat on a leash into a school or civic hall, or will pay to buy one as a status symbol, or will pay to have their fur, there will always be more cats needing refuge than all the sanctuaries in the world can handle.  Changing the world's perception of the value of an animals' life is the only way to end the abuse.  If we can do that, then all life will be perceived as precious and therein is the answer to all our woes.   This is where most people interject, "You can't change the world!"  To which I want to know, "Why not?"  Is there anybody out there who doesn't want to live in a world where people respect each other and care for each other?  Even the most evil of humankind responds positively to kindness when it is lavished upon them.  Changing perception is a big challenge, but not insurmountable because the end result is something that everyone wants.   Any money we can raise over and above the needs of the existing animals on Easy Street should go toward education.  Public perception is often molded by peer pressure.  Smoking used to be portrayed as cool and to reverse the trends in children the campaigns were launched to portray the kids who didn't smoke or use drugs as being the ones who were cool.  It worked.  The same approach works for the fur industry and the groups who are against it.  The side with the most influential media campaign sets the standard.  Groups such as Cirque De Soleil show us that we can be mesmerized and entertained without calling for the suffering of non human animals.  I was mightily impressed with Land Rover's ad depicting the owners of an expensive Range Rover on their way to the opera stopping to rescue a stray dog in the rain.   Anything we can do to promote responsibility toward animals and each other leads us to our goal.  The cats on Easy Street reach people with the message more effectively than any other medium I know.  So many times I have heard men, who had been dragged there by their wives, say that they had been hunters and that after having petted a bobcat they could never pull the trigger and end the life of such an incredible animal again.  I cry saying that, because it is that sort of awakening in man, that touches me so deeply.  We are all one.   So many people think they want them as a pet, but they come out there and see cage after cage of animals that didn't work out and they hear the stories about the owners selfishness that resulted in the animals being abandoned.  I have received countless letters and calls from people who said they always wanted a tiger as a pet, but after learning what it is really like and how the animal usually ends up, they were glad they didn't buy one.  In truth, I think they realize that they don't want to change their lives for an animal and that they would be the ones perceived as selfish if they dumped the cat, so it no longer appeals.  Whatever the motivation, I am always happy to hear that they changed their minds.   At the beginning of the tours people are always yapping about the performance they saw some big cat do in Las Vegas until they see the results of the animals that wouldn't perform.  With just one visit, perceptions start to change.  98% of the people who answer the question on the release forms, say that they heard about us through word of mouth.  The money best spent in changing perception is in getting more people in front of the cats, with qualified guides, who can help tell their story.  We are, first and foremost, for the animals in our care, a sanctuary.  With that in mind, the increase in traffic will always have to be done in such a way that the animals see it as beneficial.   Our Big Cat Expedition accomplishes that.  It is an experience people cannot get anywhere else.  It generates 1/3 of our income and most importantly, the cats love it.  Sitting in a cell all day for a crime you didn't commit would make any animal crazy.  The interaction the cats get with guests and with keepers and the stimulation to learn new behaviours is the high light of many of the cats' days. Participation in this activity is limited only by our ability to make people aware of its existence.  We have begun plans to incorporate the local hotels in bus trips for their guests to WOES for this "keeper for a day" program.  We cannot house more than 4 families overnight (1200.00 per day at full capacity), so we are hoping to utilize the local hotels bedrooms to increase visitation.  We have 200 animals in need of enrichment and typically, at full capacity we have two tour groups handling no more than 6-8 cats each.   There is a huge opportunity for expansion here.   With 200 animals, that is 25 sets of 8 animals each.  Without the cabin portion, each visitor is paying 100.00 per person.  If the tour groups were limited to four guests and one handler, that generates 400.00 per set of 25 or the potential of 10,000.00 per day.  Current expenses are under 1000.00 per day.  We are spending all day with these people, as opposed to a two-hour tour, so we can fully indoctrinate them with the issues the animals face and what they can do to help.   I rather like the concept of using the problem to cure it.  This sort of exposure and income then starts to be capable of making a much bigger impact.  We can lead by example and help other sanctuaries do the same thing.  As long as we stay pure to our goals, and put the animals needs first, we can reach a much broader cross section of the country.  We belong to an accreditation group called, The Association of Sanctuaries.  It is a regulatory group that only gives its stamp of approval to refuges who do not breed, sell nor exploit the animals.  There are less than 50 such qualified facilities in the U.S. and we are the only one in Florida and the only one nationally that specializes in cats.  I would propose that any group instituting such a program subject themselves to the policing of TAOS to insure the quality of life for the animals and the conformity of the message we are trying to convey.   I would like to see a lot more money go into outreach programs, including schools, colleges, library programs, summer camps, and video productions for the increasing television market that now has entire stations dedicated to animal issues.  Our school system is not equipped to teach anything about conservation, responsibility nor making intelligent choices.  I wish to infiltrate that system with programs that we can provide for free because all the knowledge in the world is useless if we can't breath the air nor drink the water because no one ever taught us that we can make that difference.   When I ask my volunteers why they work in the bitter cold, washing out water dishes with their bare hands or in the sweltering heat, shoveling poo they invariably say it is because they are making a difference.  We all have that need, at varying levels, and it is money well spent to show people that we all have that ability by making responsible choices in how we spend our money and our time.   As public perception begins to shift, we can drag the Neanderthals of our society along for the ride, by encouraging laws that protect the animals from cruelty, canned hunts, fur farming and the like.  We need better laws, stricter penalties and more money devoted to enforcement.  No More Homeless Pets is another project that is a self curing promotion.  As we reach people with Why it is necessary to spay and neuter their pets and Why they should adopt from shelters, rather than support breeders, we are instilling the fundamentals about respect for life that will ultimately heal the situation.   SAFEinTheWild (Saving Animals From Extinction In The Wild) is near and dear to my heart, and is what the name implies, but it is pretty far down on the list of important things to do.  I support several projects on a limited basis and would love to make a huge impact in time.   I am so happy with the progress that I have seen in our society over the past few years that I have been aware.  The changes for the better are more dramatic with every passing year.  I apologize for inundating you with far more information that you have time to read.  I want to thank you for asking because it has been helpful for me to take stock in where we are and where we are heading.       Have your earrings and we forgot the Lion donations.  Will hold for next rendezvous.   Subconsciously am I always leaving something to have an excuse to come back?  Hmmmm.   I just got a note from Anissa, our Educational Director saying that someone from Raymond James is donating 10,000.00 to our educational program.  They have never even seen our facility, but are coming out on the 29th.  They said they found us on the Internet.   Food for thought:  With all the work you are putting into presenting us to the friend of your friend, can you duplicate it and make a living from it?  I have heard that grant writers can make a very good income and that is, I believe, based on performance, which naturally would mean that WOES would benefit tremendously, thus relieving an enormous burden from my shoulders... Something to think about before you commit to a 9 to 5 somewhere.   Jamie told me today that Ringling asked her to prepare a letter about WOES that they are sending to 1,000 people who will be attending their pre-show by invitation only.  The letters gives them the option of letting their 10.00 ticket price be donated to us, or just go the circus.  I thought this was pretty clever on Feld Entertainment's part as it will let them know what the percentage of their invitees think of as being important.  If they had any doubt about the benefit to them of promoting us, this should show them it is a great move.   MOSI is coming out for their second tour in the past month and they say they are excited about the opportunity of joining forces with us.  They wanted to do an IMAX movie here, with a crew of 600, and I said that isn't going to happen just yet, so they want to come out and run something else by us.  So many exciting things are happening!   There are 16 parcels that I am going to bid on tomorrow, so hopefully I can pick up a few.  It is very rare that there are so many good ones.  All of them are vacant lots though and nothing too terribly exciting.  I hope your "short project" is challenging and rewarding for you.  Kiss the cats for me.   I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.

Join us for #Talk2METuesday with Host Sheora and Pamela Wood aka The Word Economist for 'Wise Dome' - an ode to wise word being spoken. PAMELA L. WOOD Philanthropy/Fundraising Professional Pamela Wood is a former New Yorker who is a 1990 graduate of Virginia Union University and currently closing out the 2020 Combined Federal Campaign as the Associate Director for all federal agencies in Louisiana and poised to take the helm in 2021 as the Major Gifts Officer for the Center for Third World Organizing, a B.L.M ecosystem satellite. She has 22 years of experience in non-profit fundraising. Pamela is a fundraising and public relations professional who specializes in all aspects of development, with extensive experience as an executive director in managing development, capital, and major gift campaigns, inclusive of managing implementation teams. 

Join us for #Talk2METuesday Part 2 with Host Sheora and Pamela Wood aka The Word Economist for 'Wise Dome' - an ode to wise word being spoken. PAMELA L. WOOD Philanthropy/Fundraising Professional Pamela Wood is a former New Yorker who is a 1990 graduate of Virginia Union University and currently closing out the 2020 Combined Federal Campaign as the Associate Director for all federal agencies in Louisiana and poised to take the helm in 2021 as the Major Gifts Officer for the Center for Third World Organizing, a B.L.M ecosystem satellite. She has 22 years of experience in non-profit fundraising. Pamela is a fundraising and public relations professional who specializes in all aspects of development, with extensive experience as an executive director in managing development, capital, and major gift campaigns, inclusive of managing implementation teams. 

Now that you've finally tossed the last of the turkey scraps, it's time to get down to business. The business of giving that is. Today is the Combined Federal Campaign's giving Tuesday. But the signs are already indicating a strong season this year. For an update, I spoke with the chair of the coordinating committee for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone.

This week we talk about the Combined Federal Campaign and how to participate.

Every year around this time we are reminded of how fortunate we are to be gainfully employed, and with great benefits. We are also reminded that there are many folks around us who aren't so fortunate. This year has been an especially difficult one for many of our friends, family members and neighbors as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted life as we all knew it from earlier this year. One great way to help those in need is to donate some of your resources like, time, money, or both to a helping organization through the annual Combined Federal Campaign. In this episode we have a conversation with Staff Sgt. DeAndrea King and Airman 1st Class Terrance Grayson who are the co-managers of headquarters AFLCMC's 2020 CFC effort. During the conversation they explain why they got involved with CFC, and they shared with us some important details about how this year's campaign works, and where to go to find more information. The CFC isn't necessarily just about digging into your wallet as Staff Sgt. King pointed out during our conversation. He mentioned that many organizations really need folks to help them through volunteer work. So even if you don't have the financial ability to donate, your time is also a valuable commodity needed by many helping organizations. To reach out to one of the co-managers of the AFLCMC HQ CFC effort you can e-mail one of them directly at: deandrea.king@us.af.mil or terrance.grayson@us.af.mil For more information about the campaign visit its website at the following link" https://cfcgiving.opm.gov/welcome. You can also reach out to the keyworkers in your organization for details about how you donate in your local area. For more information on all things related to AFLCMC visit our website at: https://www.aflcmc.af.mil. Follow and like us on our social media channels for the latest information and news from programs across the center. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/aflcmcofficial Twitter: @AFLCMCofficial Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AFLCMCofficial Instagram: @aflcmcofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzpbkmBDlq05aBqPYvcze3A History Office Twitter: @airpowercradle

Federal employees might be working from home, but they're working. That plus the extra needs of the needy because of the pandemic made for a surprising kickoff of this year's Combined Federal Campaign. I checked in with the co-chair of the Coordinating Committee for the National Capital Area for the Combined Federal Campaign, Vince Micone.

The 20-20 Combined Federal Campaign kicks off in the National Capital Region this week. The campaign has the unenviable task of trying to match last year's donations during a pandemic. Vince Micone is the chairman of the CFC for the National Capital Region. He acknowledged soliciting donations may be tough this year, but he said a special CFC solicitation window earlier this spring attracted some first-time donors to the campaign. Micone told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko what else is new with this year's campaign on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

In today's Federal Newscast, a group of Democratic senators want to remove the National Rifle Association Foundation from the list of approved charities on the Combined Federal Campaign.

As a workforce, federal employees are generous. In the National Capital Region alone, they've donated a half billion dollars to charitable causes over the past 10 years. This year's Combined Federal Campaign has the goal of raising $34 million from the region. But that's not all, as Federal Drive with Tom Temin heard from the chair of the local federal coordinating committee, Vince Micone.

It's been a tough couple of years for the Combined Federal Campaign. The national capital region raised a little over 34 million dollars during last year's campaign which fell smack dab in the middle of the longest government shutdown in history. It's a stark contrast to the years where the region raised over 60 million dollars in one year. But the CFC is confident it can bounce back. Vince Micone is the CFC chairman for the national capital region. He's also the deputy inspector general for management for the Special Inspector General for the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. He spoke with Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko about the theme for this year's campaign.

The Washington, D.C. metro area's Combined Federal Campaign came tantalizingly close to meeting its 2018 charity fundraising goal, but then came the longest government shutdown in history. And while some are thinking about Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor Day, the campaign's staff are already planning out the 2019 Christmas season pledge drive. Vince Micone is the chairman of the National Capital Area's CFC. He told Federal News Network's Jory Heckman what's in store for next year on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

In today's Federal Newscast, agency leaders are being asked to provide a list of what programs will be effected if the current partial government shutdown goes into March and April.

Whether it's helping with hurricane relief efforts or providing books to a student in need, federal employees give back to their communities through the Combined Federal Campaign. Since 1961 the CFC has raised more than $8 billion dollars for nearly 8,000 charities. Vince Micone is the chairman of the CFC for the National Capital Area. He told Federal News Radio's Jory Heckman more about plans for this year's charity drive.

In today's Federal Newscast on Federal News Radio, the Office of Personnel Management says its starting this year's CFC with more upgrades to the online donation system.

In today's Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management releases guidance to help employees convert volunteer hours into credit for the CFC.

In today's Federal Newscast, the Office of Personnel Management said it hasn't launched its new donation site because many charities are still dealing with the aftermath of the recent hurricanes.

Big changes are coming to the Combined Federal Campaign this year. Federal employees can make all of their donations through one online portal this year. And retirees can donate to the CFC for the first time. Vince Micone is the chairman of the National Capital Area's Combined Federal Campaign. He tells Federal News Radio's Nicole Ogrysko about what federal employees can expect on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.