PREPARED REMARKS FOR
ROY A. BERNARDI, ACTING SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
WASHINGTON, DC
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008

Thank you, Paula (Blunt). And, ladies and gentlemen, I thank all of you for coming.

I want to thank Elizabeth (Hanson) for the welcoming remarks. Elizabeth, I appreciate your leadership this year. You have done a magnificent job as the CFC coordinator for our department. And the results speak for themselves. This year has been a huge success.

Zelda Irby, thank you for joining us to represent the CFC National Capital Area. We welcome you. As you can see, CFC is an important part of HUD. There is an enthusiastic commitment here to the campaign. As you can tell, we strongly support CFC.

But most of all I want to thank each and every employee who contributed to CFC, whether through large or small donations. It is humbling to think of the level of commitment made by some of our employees. It shows that government service is more than a job. It is a way of thinking, a mindset, a way of life. Every day our employees work very hard to serve the American people. I want to stress that - I know you work very hard. That service demands the highest levels of dedication and commitment, each and every hour of every day.

And our commitment to service is evident to people outside the department, as well as inside. That is why we have recently won the Deming Award for our technological innovations, and before that we scored high on the GAO assessment of our efforts, coming off the "high risk" list with excellent scores in every category.

Anyway you measure or evaluate our work, we have made great strides in our performance the last few years. We have done this together. It has been a total team endeavor.

But our employees always want to do more, to accomplish more, and to give just a little it extra. In addition to our day jobs, it is no surprise that we seek out ways to make a difference. Some of you volunteer at homeless shelters or food banks. Some of you work after hours at schools or as ministers or as counselors. And many of you give more than time and services�you give donate your hard-earned money to help make a difference.

The Combined Federal Campaign is a powerful and profound way to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans.� And we are here today because the department's support - your support -- has been historic, phenomenal�beyond expectations. This year we hit a home run right out of the stadium.

Today, with this ceremony, we end this year's campaign, which we started in September. We close out our campaign with a record level of donations. During the course of this campaign, more than 40 percent of our employees donated almost $600,000 to non-profit organizations through CFC. This was an average contribution of $476 per person contributing. The total amount raised exceeded our targeted goal. It is an amazing statement of the leadership, compassion, and generosity of our employees. It eloquently and clearly shows the level of your dedication and the size of your hearts.

Those statistics summarize our total team effort. Within each office and each operating division, there were CFC representatives who championed, explained, and organized CFC contributions. These office and division leaders issued challenges and set goals. They talked about CFC like most people discuss the Nationals or the Redskins�with fervor, with excitement, and with powerful success stories. They made CFC a priority. A big priority. In many subtle�and sometimes not so subtle�ways they helped make this year's campaign a success.

That is why today we will receive the CFC Summit Award for exceeding our goals by more than 4 percent. Zelda, we are really pleased and proud to get this award. This is a remarkable achievement, due to each contributor, each office representative, and each member of the Organizing Committee. This is the kind of departmental effort that should make all of us proud. I think we owe a large debt of gratitude to Elizabeth Hanson and our entire HUD CFC team.

Our donations are just the beginning of the story. There is an Italian saying, "Blessings brighten as they take their flight."

Today, blessings multiply because of your generosity. Burdens will be lighter because each of you cares enough to give.

Thank you again for coming.

###