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Release: 00-286

Marshall Center begins Combined Federal Campaign charitable drive Oct. 5

Two local television personalities will help employees at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., kick off the annual Combined Federal Campaign charitable drive Oct. 5.

WAFF-TV news anchor Liz Hurley will give the keynote address, and fellow newswoman Lee Marshall also will speak. The event, with its theme "Care Enough to Share Enough," will be from 9-10 a.m. in Morris Auditorium of Bldg. 4200 at the Marshall Center.

Liz Hurley has served on the board of directors for several non-profit organizations, and as a breast cancer survivor, is well known for her support of breast cancer awareness and research. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Lee Marshall works frequently with the American Cancer Society and also sings at many community events. She will perform the National Anthem at the campaign kickoff.

Current and retired federal employees and on-site contractors participate in the Combined Federal Campaign each fall. The fundraising effort benefits thousands of non-profit organizations in Huntsville and the surrounding area, plus nationwide and internationally.

Following the kickoff, a showcase highlighting charities in line to receive Combined Federal Campaign support will be held at the Army's Sparkman Center on Redstone Arsenal from 10:30-11 a.m. This year's goal at Marshall is to raise $435,000 between Oct. 5 and Nov. 17.

"Marshall employees historically are great participants in the campaign," said Roslin Hicks, the campaign's executive director and an engineer at Marshall. "Last year, we exceeded our goal by $32,000. That gives me confidence that we'll have no trouble reaching our goal again this year."

The six-week campaign includes a speaker series - when presentations are made to the Marshall community by various charities - and tours of the charities so employees can see first-hand how contributions are put to use.

"My goal as chairwoman is to make Marshall employees more aware of the needs in our community," said Hicks. "We're doing this is by including more agencies in our speaker series and by arranging tours of more agencies for our employees. We're also extending our community service day activity into a series of days, so more employees have a chance to volunteer."

The speaker series will be Oct. 10-Nov. 3, and tours will be Sept. 26-28 and Oct. 17-19.