Charitable Service Trust kicks off Combined Federal Campaign drive.

This year, medical professionals and staff members of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. military and Walter Reed Army Medical Center will meet to talk about the transition injured service-members make when they leave active duty. Veterans of the current and past wars will gather in the Colorado wilderness to deal with post traumatic stress. And amputees who lost limbs in combat will run marathons.

While these things and many more will come true on behalf of disabled veterans and their families, they wouldn't happen without the DAV Charitable Service Trust. And the Trust wouldn't have the fuel to help run these projects without the world's largest and most successful workplace giving program, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC).

Around the nation, pledge drives for the CFC begin Sept. 1 and run through Dec. 15, making it a busy season for the Charitable Service Trust.

"The majority of the support we receive each year comes from the Combined Federal Campaign," said Trust Chairman Richard E. Marbes. "The CFC gives us a needed boost that allows the Trust to go beyond traditional services of the DAV."

For the 2006 campaign, the DAV created new advertising materials that remind prospective federal civilian, postal and military donors of the sacrifices veterans are making in Iraq and Afghanistan. By highlighting those sacrifices being made daily, organizers hope to generate more support for all veterans.

The Trust has supported several programs to aid homeless veterans. It's also made possible medical research focused on issues that affect veterans. A wide variety of grants designed to build better lives for disabled veterans are provided every year.

"The American public recognizes the price of freedom that continues to be paid by our nation's men and women in uniform," said Chairman Marbes. "As the CFC and other workplace giving campaigns kick off, we do our best to reach out to our patriotic citizens and give them the opportunity to help disabled veterans."

Charitable Service Trust officials ask members to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign, United Way and other corporate or local government workplace campaigns, and to encourage others to support efforts to assist the Trust.