WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced today that it has approved a special solicitation of Federal employees at the workplace to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey, which originally made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast last Friday and has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. 

This special solicitation, which ends September 29, 2017, will allow Federal employees and military personnel to assist the disaster relief efforts with cash or check donations outside the normal Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). These donations should help provide relief from Harvey, which has caused multiple fatalities and displaced tens of thousands of people.

“As Harvey continues to drop rain on the region, it is impossible to tell the exact size and scope of the devastation that will ultimately be caused, but it will be severe. Many Federal employees have expressed a desire to assist those in need in the region affected by this storm,” said OPM Acting Director Kathy McGettigan. “As such, I am authorizing department and agency heads to allow a special solicitation of Federal employees at the workplace to support the victims of this disaster.”

Because the special solicitation is conducted outside of the CFC, the Federal department, agency, or component conducting the solicitation is responsible for the oversight and administration of the collection of contributions. Each agency may determine which 501(c)(3) charity or charities will be permitted on Federal property to receive funds and issue receipts through the special solicitation. OPM does not make recommendations of charities, but encourages Federal agencies to review information on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) website.