News
News Releases Volunteering makes for good neighbors
Director Charlie McMillan praises volunteers for their efforts at the recognition event.
July 11, 2011—More than 200 eligible nonprofit organizations received monetary donations from Los Alamos National Security, LLC at a volunteer recognition event June 22 on the Fuller Lodge lawn.
Director Charlie McMillan said, "I believe the type of volunteer activities we are recognizing today are part of the spirit of the Laboratory," he said.
McMillan noted that, in 2010, VolunteerMatch had named LANL the nation’s top corporate volunteer organization among large employers. He also announced the new name of the Lab's volunteer program: “Vecinos,” which is Spanish for “neighbors,” saying, “I think that's what this program is about—the Lab being a good neighbor.”
Community Programs Office Director Kurt Steinhaus noted that employees and retirees had logged 262,665 volunteer hours in 2010, up from 3,962 in 2006, when the Lab first joined VolunteerMatch. Among those honored were
- Debbie Maez of Classified Matter Protection (SS-1), who performed nearly 3,000 hours of volunteer service for the Mountain Canine Corps Search and Rescue
- retiree Don Brown, whose nearly 1,900 hours of volunteer service to The Food Depot represented the greatest amount of volunteer hours by a retiree.
More information about the event is in a LANL news release.
Advocates of employee giving campaigns honored
Following the volunteer recognition event, employee advocates and Lab business partners working together to foster LANL’s giving programs were officially recognized at a luncheon at Fuller Lodge.
Steinhaus recognized the Lab’s business partners— SOC Los Alamos and CNSI, Inc.—as well as a number of organizations partnering with LANL, including
- Wings of Hope, Santa Fe
- San Martin de Porres Soup Kitchen, Española
- Española Public Schools
- Española Valley Toy Run
- Jemez Mountain Schools
- Santa Fe Public Schools’ Adelante Program for Homeless Youth.
Helping homeless children
Keynote speaker at the luncheon was Loretta Fernandez of Santa Fe’s Adelante Program. She noted that, in 2010, the program served more than 1,000 Santa Fe children who are homeless or live in danger of losing their homes. She expressed her appreciation for the Lab’s School Supply Drive, which provided hundreds of kids enrolled in Adelante with much-needed supplies in time for the new school year.
Tim Martinez of the Community Programs Office expressed his elation over how giving campaigns continued to flourish even in times of economic uncertainty. For example, in 2010
- the LANL Laces Program bought new shoes for about 400 children
- as part of the “Feed the 500” program, Lab employees donated more than 12,000 pounds of food to fill about 800 food baskets
- almost 1,200 children and seniors received holiday gifts.
Fast Facts
People
11,127 total employees
Los Alamos National Security, LLC 8,683
SOC Los Alamos (Guard Force) 419
Contractors 606
Students 1,101
Place
Located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 36 square miles of DOE-owned property.
More than 2,000 individual facilities, including 47 technical areas with 8 million square feet under roof.
Replacement value of $5.9 billion
Budget FY 2012: Approx. $2.2 billion
57% Weapons programs
9% Nonproliferation programs
7% Safeguards and Security
8% Environmental Management
4% DOE Office of Science
4% Energy and other programs
11% Work for Others
Workforce Demographics (LANS and students only)
34% of employees live in Los Alamos, the remainder commute from Santa Fe,
Española, Taos, and Albuquerque.
Average Age: 46
70% male, 30% female
43% minorities
63% university degrees
· 23% hold undergraduate degrees
· 16% hold graduate degrees
· 24% have earned a Ph.D.
Major Awards
121 R&D100 awards since 1978
31 E.O. Lawrence Awards
The Seaborg Medal
The Edward Teller Medal
The Nobel Prize in Physics, Frederick Reines