Washington, D.C. -- Federal workers, military personnel and others who spend their days and nights working for America's taxpayers also spent a few moments of their time last year pledging record contributions to the Combined Federal Campaign, the federal government's annual workplace charity drive.

Kay Coles James, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, today announced that federal employees, Postal Service workers, and the men and women of the United States military, pledged $248.5 million to the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the only workplace charity drive authorized for the federal community. In the Washington, D.C., area, the National Capital Area CFC received pledges totaling $50.7 million.

Said James: "Year after year, the men and women of our federal civil service and military services go beyond their official duties of protecting our homeland and environment, guarding our borders, caring for our national parks and ensuring the safety of our transportation infrastructure by opening their hearts and wallets to those who need our financial support."

OPM administers the CFC program and ensures its financial integrity. Following an isolated incident of questionable accounting practices in the National Capital Area CFC that led to a slight decrease in 2002 donations, James and OPM's Inspector General issued stricter accounting guidelines that took effect last year.

"OPM's insistence on accountability and transparency with all participating CFC charities has restored confidence in and credibility to the program for donors, recipients and the philanthropic community in general," said James. "I especially appreciate the diligence of OPM Inspector General Pat McFarland and his team of experts within the OPM Office of the Inspector General for their efforts to drive accountability across the CFC program. And this highest-grossing campaign is testament to the steps we have taken to restore confidence in the CFC. I want to assure all donors, whose generosity has made the 2003 CFC campaign -- and all preceding campaigns over the past 40 years -- such a resounding success, that the funds they pledged will get to and be used by the intended recipients."

The $248 million pledged in 2003 represents a 5 percent increase in pledges to the 2002 campaign, and replaces the 2001 campaign as the most successful. Campaign receipts that year spiked with an outpouring of assistance following the terrorist attacks that preceded the start of the campaign by a matter of days.

Washington, D.C.'s National Capital Area CFC, which is home to the single-largest percentage of the federal community, rebounded strongly had the all-time highest pledge total for any individual campaign ($50,700,768); the next 10-highest pledge areas are: Overseas Area CFC ($13,500,000); San Diego County CFC ($6,329,495); Hawaii-Pacific Area CFC ($5,597,193); CFC of Central Maryland ($$5,496,185); San Antonio Area CFC ($5,093,142); South Hampton Roads CFC ($5,056,537); Metropolitan Atlanta CFC ($4,226,460); Chicago Area CFC ($4,083,770); Los Angeles CFC ($3,823,399); and, Denver Metropolitan Area CFC ($3,597,491).