Shutdown Watch: Defense Department Suspends Annual Charity Drive

The Department of Defense has put its Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) activities on hold after Pentagon officials determined that the annual workplace fundraiser was not covered by the law recalling most furloughed military employees, The Huntsville Times reports.

A Pentagon human resources official wrote in a memo to employees that activities related to the annual charity drive “are not excepted from furlough” under the terms of the Pay Our Military Act. The law, approved by Congress Oct. 5, authorizes workers to perform duties directly related to supporting the armed forces.

Other government departments have not suspended the campaign, but nonprofit groups that manage the annual drive have canceled numerous promotional events because of the closure of federal offices.

There’s further collateral shutdown damage in Montgomery County, Md., where officials are urging the government to reopen a nonprofit-run community park that sits on federal land but receives no federal money, writes The Washington Post. The closure of Glen Echo Park has cost the Glen Echo Partnership, a county-created nonprofit organization, tens of thousands of dollars in revenue from activities it normally operates in the park, including children’s theater, arts workshops, and a 1920s carousel.

North Carolina officials said Monday the state will add $2-million to this year’s allocation for food banks and speed up the flow of existing funds to help charities meet rising demand from families struggling with shutdown fallout, reports the Charlotte Observer. Gov. Pat McCrory said programs to help the poor and the state’s tourism economy are particularly suffering as aid from Washington dries up and national parks remain closed, and that thousands of state workers could be furloughed because federal money pays their salaries.