Chatting during Thursday’s Holiday Open House at LANL’s Community Programs Office, from left, Danny Branch of LANS LLC office, Carole Rutten of the Community Programs Office and James Kloeppel and Chris Fresquez of LANL’s Small Business Program Office. Courtesy/LANL

A room full of holiday drive gifts donated by LANL employees, including some of the approximately 115 bicycles collected during the LANL holiday drive. All the gifts have been distributed through partner agencies. Courtesy/LANL

STAFF REPORT

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Community Programs Office hosted its annual Holiday Open House Thursday at 15th Street and Central Avenue.

“It is rewarding to see that Laboratory employee giving goes way beyond the typical gift exchange. Every day, I have the opportunity to observe heartfelt support for the communities in which we all live. This results in a sense of pride in Northern New Mexico,” CPO Executive Director Kurt Steinhaus said. “Let’s all remember what Winston Churchill once said: ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ “

Some of the many community activities LANL employees contributed to in 2014 include:

Annual Food Drive

• 347 boxes of non-perishable food items (for a traditional Thanksgiving meal); and
• 430 frozen turkeys (230 from employees and 200 purchased with Cray money). 

This equals about 25,900 meals for families in seven Northern New Mexico counties: Los Alamos, San Miguel, Mora, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Taos and Sandoval.

The donated items came from Lab employees and community partners Cray Computer, Smith’s Marketplace, Lowes Super Save Market, Los Alamos Food Co-op and Navarro.

$2,492 donated to the Food Depot in Santa Fe; monies came from the Books Are Fun book fair we had in September. Money provided 9,986 meals. Taos Feeds Taos also received $350 for their food pantry, which was used to purchase 1,402 meals in addition to the boxes of food and frozen turkeys they received via the food drive.

Wreaths Across America

Laboratory employees on Saturday, Dec. 13 placed wreaths on gravesites at Santa Fe National Cemetery and the Carlsbad Cemetery (we have several hundred Lab employees who work in Carlsbad). Wreaths were purchased through the Wreaths Across America program. More than 2,400 wreaths were purchased (1,900 placed at Santa Fe National Cemetery, 500 in Carlsbad).

Holiday gift tag program

Lab employees purchased 1,095 gifts for children and seniors in a seven-county region. The holiday drive officially ends today and nearly all the gifts have been distributed through partner agencies. Additionally, gifts were purchased and donated to St. Elizabeth Shelter in Santa Fe for distribution to families temporarily staying at the shelter.

All of these giving opportunities fall under the umbrella that we call Season of Giving in which employees can choose which programs to participate in. It’s a way for LANL employees to collectively help out others less fortunate.

LANL’s Employee Giving Campaign

The work of more than 250 community and social service organizations will benefit from the more than $2.17 million pledged by Los Alamos National Laboratory employees to United Way and other nonprofits during the Laboratory’s 2015 Employee Giving Campaign.

“We are proud to help the many community focused non-profit organizations working hard to improve the lives of so many people in Northern New Mexico,” said Alan Bishop, Los Alamos’ principal associate director for Science, Technology and Engineering and this year’s campaign champion. “The list of organizations receiving support from the Lab’s giving campaign runs the gamut from after-school services to elder care, and from job training to providing safe havens to victims of domestic violence.”

Laboratory employees have the option to designate their pledge to eligible nonprofit organizations locally, regionally and nationally.

The amount pledged is a record for a giving campaign by Los Alamos employees. Los Alamos National Security, LLC, which manages and operates the Laboratory for the National Nuclear Security Administration, plans to prorate its $1 million match among the selected nonprofit organizations, bringing the total donation to nearly $3.2 million.

Originally called “Community Chest,” the Laboratory has annually conducted a giving campaign since 1954.

About Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and URS for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.