FBINAA.Oct.Dec.Digital.REV

THE FBI NATIONAL ACADEMY LEGACY GIFT: FROM CROSSROADS TO BOARDROOM

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FBINA 234

Everyone wants to leave something behind, thus the tradition of a Legacy Gift was born. The Legacy Gifts were items bought by an FBINA Session. Often sessions that came through the National Academy raised money to purchase a gift for the FBI Academy, in remembrance of their session. These gifts came in all shapes and sizes; fountains, bronze eagles, granite benches, 9/11 Memorial, and flag poles just to name a few. The more Legacy gifts that were given, the more elaborate they became. Each Session would buy a gift, donate it to the FBI, and then the FBI would incur the cost of installation and maintenance, until the FBI prohibited the donating of a legacy gift. I n 2008, the FBI was beginning to discourage legacy gifts and sessions began donating money to charities. Session 234 , before graduating, obtained permission to provide a legacy gift, new pool tables for the Crossroads Lounge. The Crossroads Lounge was on the main floor of Building 9 underneath the caf- eteria, until 2015 when the building was renovated. The Cross- roads Lounge was a place to hang out in between classes with televisions, couches, tables, and a few board games. It was the first home of the Session 234 Pool Tables, and after the Building 9 renovation, the new Board Room became their home. These pool tables were unique because they had personalized felts that had the FBINA Seal and Session 234 printed right on it. They also had a small gold plaque that had the dates of Session 234, July 6, 2008 – September 12, 2008.

Whenever a Session 234 student had a reason to return to the Academy, they would check on the tables. In 2018, while attending the Chapter Leadership Summit, Tim Cannon , noticed the deterioration of the 234 Session Pool Tables. The tables were a reminder of his journey through the National Academy and he wanted to see them preserved so he began looking into getting the tables repaired. After confirming that he could get someone out there to fix the tables, he developed a plan to get it done. In February 2018 Tim put out a message on the FBINA Ses- sion 234 Facebook page saying, “So looks like our legacy gift of the pool tables has held up pretty well. However, it looks like it is time for the felt to be replaced. It sure would be neat if we could figure out a way to come up with the funding to recover the pool tables with our session logo? They have been moved from the Crossroads area up to the new Board Room next to the Cafeteria and they get used on a regular basis by everyone attending the National Academy. I’m not sure what the cost is to cover the tables, but I can certainly facilitate having them recovered if we could figure out a way to pay for it.” His classmate, Chris Bar- rella , suggested a GoFund Me Page be set up on Facebook. The response from his session mates was overwhelming, almost all his session mates responded that they wanted to help in any way they could.

In October of 2019, Tim pulled together a Facebook Fun- draiser to refurbish the pool tables. The fundraiser stated, “In 2008, one of our legacy gifts to the NA before graduating from the 234th Session was to purchase new pool tables in the Cross- roads. When finished the tables were beautiful and represented each of us and have served all of those who have come after us for 11 years. Every time I return to the Academy, I see our tables. Now the felt is in disrepair and I am raising this money for all of us from the 234th Session to refelt and repair the tables so that all future NA Sessions and New Agents will see the contribution we made. The cost to refelt the two pool tables is approximately $1,700.00 using professional grade felt with a full color FBINA Logo with our 234 Session Number. Let OUR legacy live on!” The results were amazing, and Session 234 really outdid themselves. In three days, Session 234 raised $1,810.00 with a total of 39 people donating. The repairs were done in early 2020 shortly after the 2020 Chapter Leadership Summit. Unfortu- nately, due to COVID-19, the pool tables have yet to be played on. We cannot wait for the National Academy to be running again so new sessions can create wonderful memories and bond over the 234 Session Legacy gift from 12 years ago.

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