Strike a Match

And according to Brad Sisley, chief operating officer and senior vice president of development at CGF, the appeal went beyond just the direct-mail recipients, particularly with the help of word-of-mouth and media coverage.

“The Coast Guard is a very tight-knit community. People know who we are, so we get a lot of white gifts in the mail from Coast Guard members, families, friends,” he says. “And people who want to support us in times like this come out of the woodwork.