{"id":17998,"date":"2018-11-09T21:59:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T21:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/09\/2018-cfc-chair-wants-to-make-donations-personal\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:38:25","slug":"2018-cfc-chair-wants-to-make-donations-personal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2018\/11\/09\/2018-cfc-chair-wants-to-make-donations-personal\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 CFC Chair wants to make donations personal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2018 Combined Federal Campaign may have its most fitting honorary chair yet<\/a>: Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen, a public servant who has spent decades volunteering and promoting volunteerism around the world. Olsen recently spoke with Federal Times Editor Amber Corrin about her experience and her hopes for CFC this year and going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know you have a long history in the Peace Corps. Can you talk about that work here, and how your experience has prepared you for your CFC role?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started in the Peace Corps in Tunisia, where I volunteered for two years teaching English as a second language and worked with women and infants. I had an opportunity as a volunteer to really see at an intimate level the role of making a difference, the role of friendship, the role of service \u2014 how one person can make a difference in the life of one person, one family, one community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That really stuck with me, in part because I changed, too. I felt that I was going there giving a service; in fact, I was learning so much from the women \u2026 I could hear perspectives from different cultures, languages, ways of thinking. And that really pushed me in a direction of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For five years I worked with Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, after returning from Peace Corps service. Seeing the faces of people who were receiving meals \u2014 for some of them, the person delivering the meals was the only person they saw all day; they would get all dressed up and they would be really ready for the visit. And even just 10 or 15 minutes of having the driver there was what made their day come together \u2014 much more so than the couple meals that were being delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel such a commitment to serving. We have 7,000 volunteers in 64 countries, and these are young Americans who take two years of their lives to serve in a community in all parts of the world. And often, in doing that, the volunteers at the time are thinking, \u201cAm I making a difference?\u201d And they indicate what they are actually learning from the people where they\u2019re volunteering. And yet they, too, are making a difference in lives because they are connecting with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope as honorary CFC chair I can help communicate that spirit of giving, that spirit of sharing, that spirit of appreciating how we each give back. That we \u2014 everyone within the federal government, everyone making a contribution \u2014 can personally understand that we are making a difference. That is the key to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen spent time in Tunisia for her own two years of service as part of the program she now leads. (Courtesy Peace Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We know there\u2019s been a decrease in monetary donations to CFC in recent years. What\u2019s your goal and what are you doing to try to turn things around?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a goal of helping to increase those who donate resources; also, now with CFC they can donate by signing up for volunteer hours. But what I think is most important in continuing to better connect everyone within the federal system to CFC is for each one of us to think about what do we care about? What\u2019s important to us? Who do I worry about \u2014 how\u2019s my neighbor down the street, or at church, or at synagogue or the mosque who I\u2019m just not quite sure how they\u2019re doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s thinking of your intimate community, your family, the people you see on the metro, the people at work, the people on the street corner. Where is the need? Is there a group that\u2019s close or important to me? Think: I can do something that\u2019s very personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I like about CFC is we have a choice from upwards of 1,000 organizations \u2026 so there is bound to be one that, if I contribute, I can help the family up the street. I think the way to increase participation is to make a personal ask. And I\u2019m doing that. Because this is personally important \u2014 it\u2019s not abstract giving; it\u2019s about our friends, family, colleagues, community.<\/p>\n\n\n\t