Charity begins in the office, as HUD's Headquarters Staff showed over the 2002 holiday season! Not only are HUD staff dedicated to their mission, they've proven their compassion in the recent Toys For Tots campaign and the Capitol Area Food Bank food drive.

HUD's selfless charity drive organizers know the terrible fear that their efforts will not be good enough...staff will be preoccupied with work...with the holidays...with the weather...and all of the good deeds they hoped would happen instead would never be!

But the numbers are in, and EVERYONE who contributed to the Capital Area Food Bank drive and/ or the Toys For Tots Campaign deserves thanks and congratulations. The minimum goal set for this food drive was 700 pounds of food - as much as was contributed in 2001. Instead, HUD Headquarters employees delivered 1,686 pounds of food, and scores of coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, personal items and more for folks in the greater Washington D.C. area who were down on their luck this year!

The Toys For Tots Campaign hoped to receive 200 toys to call this special campaign a success - instead, HUD Headquarters staff brought 465 new, unwrapped toys that the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve could distribute to tots and teens in the area who might have faced an empty holiday season.

Meeting HUD's goals means facing many challenges in the months and years ahead, but the generosity of HUD staff in every HUD office in the nation proved once again that by working together we can meet any challenge we face. Thanks are due from all of us to the hard-working organizers of every food/ toy/ clothing drive across the nation, and the compassionate men and women who shared something with the poor, the homeless, and families making a fresh start. It is because of people like you that HUD is able to bring hope and new opportunity to the people and communities we serve, and help all Americans share in the bounty and opportunity this great nation has to offer.