AFAF officials extend video contest to raise awareness for charities

  • Published
  • By Eric M. Grill
  • Air Force Personnel, Services and Manpower Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --  Air Force Assistance Fund officials announced Dec. 2 the extension to the AFAF's 2012 fundraising campaign online video contest to Jan. 31, 2012.

The extension of the video contest is to allow participants more time to complete their video entries.

"We received requests for extensions to the deadline and, based on feedback we received from Airmen, we wanted to clarify the eligibility criteria for the entries," said William D'Avanzo, the Air Force's voting action officer and fundraising chief.

The contest is open to any individual or team and is not limited to one entry per base, D'Avanzo said.

The winning video for each category will be featured on the AFAF YouTube channel and played at the 9th Annual Air Force Charity Ball in Springfield, Va., Mar. 24, 2012. The AFAF will also name a 2012 Air Force Aid Society educational grant after the winning teams in recognition of their efforts.

"Anybody can submit a video entry," D'Avanzo said. "There doesn't need to be any appointment by base officials, and we encourage as many people to participate who want to. The only limit is that each individual or team may submit one entry per 29-second and 59-second time limit category."

The concept for the video contest originated from an installation project officer at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., who created a humorous video to educate people on donating to the AFAF and its affiliate charities, he said. When the IPO at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, used the video to publicize AFAF, she suggested holding a video contest to help generate more interest.

This year, D'Avanzo said he hopes the video contest will get Airmen and their families more involved in the AFAF campaign.

"Our primary goal is to increase awareness of the four affiliate charities and all they do for our Air Force family, from induction throughout retirement," D'Avanzo said.

The following are some of the video contest rules and guidelines:

- Videos must be about one or all of the AFAF affiliate charities, the campaign itself, or testimonials on how one of the charities helped an individual or family.

- The videos may be humorous, serious, informational or educational.

- Participation eligibility and number of video teams from each base is unlimited.

- Each person or team may submit one video in each of the two categories -- 29-second and 59-second.

- The video must be posted to a YouTube channel and the video link emailed to USAF.Fundraising@randolph.af.mil no later than Jan. 31, 2012. The email must be digitally signed from an af.mil account and must contain the statement, "All persons appearing in the video have given permission to be videotaped and for the video to be publicly displayed on YouTube."

- If children are shown in the video, the email contest submission must also include a signed letter (.doc or .pdf) from the child's parent or legal guardian stating they give permission for the child to be in the video and for the video to be uploaded and posted to YouTube.

- Approved video submissions will be re-posted to http://www.youtube.com/afassistancefund upon receipt.

- On Jan. 31, 2012, the videos will be judged by AFAF and affiliate charity representatives for content, cinematography, creativity and number of "views" on the AFAF YouTube channel. Winning videos will be announced on the AFAF YouTube channel and through public affairs channels the week beginning Feb. 6, 2012.

The AFAF was established to provide for an annual effort to raise funds for the charitable affiliates that provide support to the Air Force family, including active duty, reservists, Guard and their dependents, retirees and surviving spouses in need. The AFAF's affiliate charities are Air Force Villages, Air Force Aid Society, General and Mrs. Curtis E. LeMay Foundation, and Air Force Enlisted Village. These organizations help Air Force people with aid in an emergency, with educational needs, or to have a secure retirement home for widows or widowers of Air Force members in need of financial assistance.

For more information on the AFAF's affiliate charities, visit its website at http://www.afassistancefund.org.  

(Tech. Sgt. Steve Grever contributed to this story.)