The EPA Alumni Association will work with our members to enable them to provide assistance to current EPA Employees and SEE Enrolees who may experience severe financial stress in the event of a Government shutdown. We had a program in 2019 to do this but had to invent it after that shutdown began. We are able to take advantage of that experiencee in preparing for a shutdown in 2023. Because we want to take great care that ethics rules are respected, the program is somewhat complex. We will ask employees in grades 12 and below to provide us with information needed to make assistance available. This information will not be used for any other purpose. Ethics rules do not allow Federal employees to accept cash gifts. They may accept gifts valued at $20 or less at any one time from any one source and may not accept more than $50 from any one source in a calendar year. Our members will not give cash, checks, cash equivalent gift cards like prepaid Visa or Master Cards, or Venmo or Zelle monetary transfers. For administrative simplicity and to provide equal treatment for SEE enrollees and EPA employees. Physical or electronic store gift cards will be used to provide assistance and can be sent by mail or electronically. Some stores like Walmart, Target, CVS, and Walgreens have many locations across the US. Grocery stores are more regional and local, so we will ask potential recipients what stores are in their area, like Food Lion, Hanford, Safeway, Harris Teeter, etc.
We will ask our members who are willing to extend assistance how much they can commit. to this effort. An Association Member who wants to provide $200 in support would be assisting 10 EPA employees or SEE enrollees. A Member wanting to help 20 people would be purchasing 20 $20 gift cards at a cost of $400, etc. We will match Member/donors with prospective recipients. For administrative simplicity and to provide equal treatment for SEE enrollees and EPA employees we aim to have each potential recipient receive ten $20 gift cards.
Association Members, please click here to identify yourself and how much assistance you will provide. You may email this information to us but it will be far easier for the association to administer the program if you complete a simple form after clicking the link above. If Association members encounter difficulty in acquiring and distributing gift cards, you may make a donation to the Association to support this program by clicking here.
EPA employees at grades 12 and below and SEE Enrolees who need assistance to purchase food, medicine or other necessities please click here to give us information on who you are, how to contact you, and whether you can access an electronic gift card (by email or online) or wish to receive a physical gift card and which stores you can reach relatively easily. You may email this information to us but it will be far easier for the association to administer the program if you complete a simple form after clicking the link above.
What to expect: Association Members will receive information on how to make gift cards available for the number of recipients they have said they will help or the number that can be helped at a dollar amount they have said they will provide.
Recipients will receive information on electronic gift cards or will receive physical gift cards by mail. We hope that each recipient will receive 10 gift cards, each with a value of $20.
The Association will be purchasing and distributing gift cards as well to expand the reach of the program, but also will adhere to the $20 limitation that applies to individuals.