Changing the World...One Spoon at a Time

In the past couple of months, I became the Public Affairs Officer for the Company Grade Officer Association (CGOA) for my base.  It has been a huge honor for me and if you don't know me, a lot of folks like to say that my fictional character twin is definitely Leslie Knope.

Now I certainly don't mind that one bit because I love Leslie and I love Amy Poehler.  When I became the PA officer, I knew that I wanted to make a difference and I also knew that the CGOA needed that boost of energy from me.  In working with five amazing, yet very busy people, our schedules don't always mesh well.  But honestly, that's where I come in.  We've created a new e-mail address, an updated Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a private CGOA board Facebook group.

I was honored when my fellow CGOs voted me in as the PA and although the position encourages community involvement and volunteerism, I wanted to embrace that and really become a positive influence on our local community.  For me, moving to Great Falls really flipped a switch on how active someone should be in their community.  I feel like it is every person's civic responsibility to give back in some way.  My friend May mentioned a local organization called My Neighbor In Need.  It's a really fantastic non-profit where local families can request assistance with a specific need.  For example, some people may need mattresses for their kids, so they'll put up a request online for X number of child-size mattresses.  Then people can visit the site, check over the requests, and see if they can help out.

From the end of February to the end of March, we are doing our first charity drive called Home at the Dinner Table.  We have donation boxes all throughout the local community and folks are asked to donate clean kitchen items.  These items will be given to My Neighbor In Need and then passed on to families in the community that need them.  Kitchen supplies are actually in the top three most requested items for the organization.

One of my personal favorite components of the campaign are the print ads:

 

   

I know every single one of these people and they have such beautiful spirits! It's been amazing working with all of these different people and supporting a great cause.  If you're reading this and are a CGO, we are brainstorming so many ideas and feel free to share with any one of your board members.  I can't wait for the rest of 2014 with such awesome people =]





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