Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Lance Cpl. Sam Holdorf, Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico, made the rounds of the 18 charities that had set up tables at The Clubs at Quantico on Oct. 15, but the one that resonated with him the most was ShelterBox.
“They provide tools and tents to people who’ve lost their homes because of disaster,” he said. He decided to donate to ShelterBox through the Combined Federal Campaign, the federal government’s workplace giving program, which runs until December 15.
Holdorf was attending a CFC Public Pledge Ceremony organized by 2nd Lt. Talia Bastien, the campaign representative for Marine Corps Base Quantico. Eight commanding officers from Marine Corps Base Quantico and Headquarters Marine Corps spoke about the charities they would be donating to through the CFC and signed pledge cards as guarantees of their gifts.
“We’re setting an example from the top down,” Bastien said in her opening remarks. “We hope hearing these men talk publicly about giving will encourage you to contribute privately.”
Quantico base commander, Col. Joseph Murray, said that in the old days, platoon commanders would sit their Marines down and tell them, “No one’s leaving until you’ve filled out a card!”
“Now, it’s easier to give online, but it’s also easier not to give at all,”
Murray said.
This year, Murray said, he will give to the high school he graduated from, Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. It’s a Jesuit high school that maintains a soup kitchen in its basement, where Murray said he worked as a senior.
“Marines by and large — in fact, I haven’t met an exception yet — do what we do because we love to serve,” Maj. Gen. Burke Whitman, director of Marine and Family Division at Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said. “Our culture makes us a perfect fit for the CFC. When Marines give, you raise enthusiasm for others to give.”
Staff Sgt. Darth Driskell, Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico, said he thought the pledge ceremony was energizing.
“Marines are creatures of habit,” he said. “The CFC has been a part of our culture for a long time, but seeing our leaders give their reasons for participating in it was galvanizing.”
— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com