What are your plans for tonight? Published Oct. 5, 2006 By Col. John McDonald 43rd Airlift Wing vice commander POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Now that I have your attention, I'll confess the title was simply to draw you in -- hopefully to pique your interest and read the remainder of the article. This article is about more than what you're doing tonight; it's about the power of sacrificing a Friday night out at the movies! That's correct -- the power of giving up going out only one evening a month! It's the beginning of our Combined Federal Campaign drive, and I want each of you to consider the tremendous impact we can have as Team Pope. Understand, our success is solely dependent upon your individual participation. My thought process is simple and easy to follow so please hear me out. Back to the original movie and popcorn idea ... it's the weekend and you and your friends or family decide to see the latest release downtown at the theaters. To get in the door costs you approximately $8, and before you can get away from the concession counter you have easily spent another $5. Oh by the way, if you stopped anywhere for a quick bite to eat you probably spent at least another $10. Now your support of the local economy is appreciated by area businesses, but what impact have you had, really? Remember, I said the success of Team Pope is dependent upon the individual, but the power of Team Pope comes from the team. Again, I need you to spend a moment realizing we have all benefited in some way from the charities and organizations presented within the CFC. You and your children directly benefited from research and prenatal programs supported by the March of Dimes. Many of us who have children with asthma can be assured that the American Lung Association has made great strides as a result of contributions received via CFC donations. If you have a parent with heart difficulties, or know anyone battling any type of cancer, you can help make a difference by designating the American Heart Association or American Cancer Society as CFC recipients. Additionally, members of our Air Force family at Keesler AFB, Miss., were assisted last year by the American Red Cross following Hurricane Katrina. From the base youth center to local Boy and Girl Scout troops, you can have a direct impact on organizations that, in turn, directly impact you. Now let's get back to the approximately $23 you spend during one night out a month, but instead donate less than half, say $10, to worthy charities you designate through CFC. That means you would contribute at least $120 throughout the year, and if you contributed via payroll deduction, I'd bet you wouldn't miss it. You are probably thinking, "Okay, I can do that, but what real impact is there in $120 when we are trying to find a cure for a serious disease or debilitating illness?" That is where the power of the team comes in. Take your $10 donation per month multiplied by the number of folks in your squadron, say 150. That is $1,500 per month or $18,000 per year. Now multiply that times the number of squadrons at Pope, say 20 (for us folks who like round numbers), and that comes to $360,000 per year. Now multiply that times the number of bases in Air Mobility Command, 12, and now we are talking about $4.3 million, just from AMC. If we were to continue this calculation for each of the Air Force bases and installations and then applied that total to the four different services, the resulting impact would be staggering. All one person has to do is sacrifice a movie one night a month, and contribute to a charity of their choice through CFC. There are more than 5,000 people at Pope who can choose to make a tremendous impact through CFC. Applying my example of $10 per month, the impact approaches $600,000, but it only works if we all participate.