U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - The final tally is still coming in but the Air Force Academy upped the ante in the number of donations to this year’s Air Force Assistance Fund campaign.
Senior Master Sgt. Keith Stolberg, the installation’s project officer for this year’s campaign, said the Academy saw its first increase in donations since 2012.
“Thank you all for turning this campaign around for the first increase in donations since 2012 over the previous year, with the exception of 2015 over 2014,” he said.
The Academy’s AFAF drive occurred March 15-April 23, with more than 76% of the base’s eligible participants reached and informed about the fund, which raises money for four charities: The Air Force Enlisted Village, the General and Mrs. Curtis E. LeMay Foundation, the Air Force Villages Charitable Foundation and the Air Force Aid Society.
The AFAF is the only official Department of the Air Force campaign that is ‘for us, by us,’” Air Force fundraising chief Bill D'Avanzo said earlier this year.
Last year’s campaign raised $2.13 million for the four charities, even as the pandemic shutdowns started the week after the campaign began.
“There were certainly a lot of people hurting because of the pandemic,” Stolberg said. “The AFAF gives us another chance to take care of our own whether here at the Academy or across the Air Force. Contributing is a way for our staff, faculty and cadets to say ‘I’ve got your six.’ This campaign is simply about people taking care of other people.”
Stolberg is assigned to the Academy’s 10th Medical Group.