College Kicks Off 2013-14 SEFA Appeal

10/21/2013 

SUNY Cortland kicked off its 2013-14 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign on Oct. 21 with a noon luncheon for volunteers in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The campaign, which relies on state employee volunteers to canvas co-workers for donations, will continue through Monday, Nov. 4.

The only authorized fundraising campaign among state workers, SEFA is directed by the United Way of Cortland County and unites fundraising efforts for a group of agencies under a common umbrella.

“Last year the campus raised $52,028 in SEFA campaign donations from a total of 349 SUNY Cortland employees,” said Lori Porter who, with Mavis Lefever, will co-chair this year’s SEFA campaign on campus.

“While last year’s campaign was incredibly successful in terms of dollars raised and the number of donors, we are hopeful that even more money can be raised and that more employees will decide to contribute to this year’s campaign,” Porter added.

z’We are hopeful that as many or more employees will be able to contribute to this year’s campaign in an effort to meet or exceed the number of programs and people who benefit from these donations,” Porter added. 

According to Abigail Oaks, campaign associate for the United Way for Cortland County, last year’s United Way donations were allocated to 26 programs at 13 agencies. The number of people in the county served through these programs in 2012 was 27,157, or 56 percent.

 The College offers incentives for employees who donate to the campaign.

SEFA campaigns also are conducted at the State Department of Labor, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Transportation, the Office of Court Administration and the State Police. Decisions are made locally about which agencies are included and how funds are distributed. The community-based SEFA committee is composed of representatives from state agencies and managers of human service agencies. Pledging takes place once a year.

Participants can choose to have their gifts shared among different organizations within Cortland County, used in another county of their choice or designated for individual local, state, independent or international organizations. Examples of local agencies include the United Way for Cortland County, Madison-Cortland New York State ARC, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Catholic Charities, Cortland Area Child Care Council, Cortland County Child Development Center, Family Counseling Services, Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture, Salvation Army, Franziska Racker Centers (special children’s center), United Service Organization, YMCA and YWCA.

Local members of the Cortland County SEFA Committee include: Kathleen Burke, SUNY Cortland United University Professions (UUP) employees; Cynthia Eberhart, federated campaign coordinator for the United Way for Cortland County; Gary Evans, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees; Laurie Klotz, SUNY Cortland UUP employees; Lois Marshall, NYSDOT, CSEA employees; Donna Raymond, NYSEC, CSEA employees; Cindy Tarleton, Community Health Charities of New York; Antoinette Tiburzi, SUNY Cortland professor emerita, Cortland County SEFA chair; and Laurie Barton, SUNY Cortland, management/confidential employees.

For more information about SEFA in New York state, visit the website www.sefanys.org.