FACT: A Chance for One Member to Give Back
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- Published: November 20, 2014
By Janine Murphy, PASS Region I PR Committee Member
When working at Boston Center (ZBW) as a computer specialist, PASS member Tita Thompson, Chapter NG3, devotes her skills and time to the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) system as an integral part of today’s automated branch of the national aerospace system. Her time off, however, is part of a different venture that aids those in need in the Philippines.
Thompson herself is a native of the Pacific island nation, and though she left it many years back, she still feels a kinship toward her birthplace. This led her to be a co-founder of FACT, the Filipino American Charitable Trust. FACT is a small group of dedicated volunteers with Thompson acting as the organization’s president. The trust’s main function is to raise funds and dispense these donations to various groups in need of assistance, including those impacted by natural disasters or simply those living in poor or substandard conditions. Recently, FACT was able to raise $1,500 during a walkathon to benefit Haiyan Typhoon Victims. Those funds and additional contributions totaling $15,000 were sent to the Philippines along with 210 balikbayan boxes, or “repatriate boxes,” containing items of need by expatriate members living overseas. This is one of the many charitable donations made by Thompson’s volunteer group. Other examples include, but are not limited to, assistance in purchasing much needed-medicinal supplies and educational material for schools, as well as the installation of a hand pump for a water well that gave potable drinking water to 35 needy families. And the list only goes on from there.
“I realized how blessed I am, living in this country and not having those hardships to live with. I wanted to give back and make a difference and volunteering with FACT makes this happen,” Thompson said. So whether she is performing her duties as a specialist at a busy center like ZBW or pouring her time and effort into running a charity like FACT, Thompson can rest assured that, at the end of the day, she is making a difference with her skills in the workplace, in the safety of the NAS and throughout the world through her charitable work. For more information about FACT, visit here www.fact-usa.org.