Page 8 - Spring2017_MIL Connection

mil cares

Feeding the local community through MIL Cares

The United Way Saint Mary’s County recently recognized MIL
staff member efforts on behalf of in-need residents of St. Mary’s
County, MD. United Way representative Jennifer Hollingsworth
passed on her appreciation and provided an update on how
MIL Cares contributions are benefiting the local community.
According to Hollingsworth, MIL Cares donations went directly
to supporting the “3 Squares in a Bag” program, a food packaging
event conducted every January around MLK Day. As a result of
this fund-raising effort, three full meals, with fresh vegetables and
a dessert, and the recipes for the meals are packed into bags and
delivered throughout St. Mary’s County.
This year Chopitcon High School students were the first group to
volunteer to pack 30 bags during their lunch hour. These bags were
distributed to families at Lexington Park Elementary, Fairlead Academy, and Duke Elementary. In the weeks following, more students
packed bags to be dispensed at St. Mary’s Caring soup kitchen, Cedar Lane senior center, and Three Oaks homeless assistance program.
As of Hollingsworth’s last update in January, MIL staff have provided 90 meals to families struggling with paying bills and feeding
their families. MIL Cares efforts were also recognized on the organization’s Facebook page. To check out the United Way’s FB page for
yourself to see how you can help.

kudos

FAA and MIL team share the 2016 Citizens Centric Award

By Sandra Lee

FAA Director of the Office of Financial Reporting and
Accountability, Allison Ritman, and her team were recently
presented with the 2016 Citizens Centric Award, which is part
of FAA’s 2016 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR)
submission to the Association of Government Accountants (AGA)
for the Certificate of Excellence in Accounting and Reporting
(CEAR) Award. Presenting the award was Ann Ebberts, Chief
Executive Office for the AGA. As part of the FAA team being
recognized, MIL staff members John Roland and Sandra Lee were
also commended for their efforts.
Every year, AGA recognizes outstanding PAR submissions from
federal agencies applying for the CEAR Award. These submissions
are graded by a panel of accounting professionals (both federal and nonfederal), who use an extremely tough grading scale to consider
the CEAR Awards. The submissions consist of a full, 150-page PAR, an 18- to 30-page PAR Summary Report, and in 2016, for the first
time in AGA history, a 4-page Citizens Centric Report (CCR). The CCR is geared towards the average American citizen and provides
details specific to the agency, such as audit results, current important work areas, and upcoming or pending legislature in a unique
but easily understandable format. This CCR, produced for the first time by FAA, is the document that AGA chose to recognize as
outstanding by awarding FAA this early CEAR Award.
John and Sandra served as Program Manager and Document Production Manager for the PAR and were responsible for leading the
organization that created the three PAR documents. In addition to working closely with Allison Ritman and her FAA team, MIL
partnered with Corporate Visions to lay out and print the various PAR documents. John and Sandra spearheaded everything from
creating the Project Plan and the Employee Responsibility Matrix to organizing and facilitating every team meeting. The MIL team also
worked with various FAA divisions to assure receipt of their PAR input and also performed management level editing and proofreading
for all 11 versions of the PAR document before finally completing and submitting FAA’s 2016 CEAR application.
Congratulations to John, Sandra, and the entire FAA team on this outstanding achievement!

8 | The mil connection | spring 2017