NAPLES, Italy — Sailors and civilian personnel assigned to U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa were in the giving mood this holiday season.

The final Navy numbers for the Combined Federal Campaign showed that sailors and civilians donated $600,983.36 to the charity fund-raising campaign. That surpassed the goal of raising $600,000 for the two-month campaign, which ended Dec. 3, Navy officials said in a press release.

Last year, U.S. Naval Forces Europe raised $578,000, said Navy Lt. Steven Ayling, the NAVEUR and NAVAF coordinator for the campaign.

"At the end of November, it started surging," Ayling said about the donations.

In 2008, Navy officials said that 93 percent of all personnel assigned to its Europe and Africa commands were contacted and the average per-capita donation was $81.37. About 7,000 out of 7,400 sailors and civilian employees donated this year, Ayling said.

About 50 volunteers played a key role in getting people to donate, Ayling said.

Last year, the federal civilian employees and military personnel donated more than $273 million to the CFC worldwide.

Migrated