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Holiday Drive starts Nov. 22

The Laboratory's 2004 Holiday Drive to collect new clothing and toys and nonperishable food items for Northern New Mexico residents begins Monday, Nov. 22, and continues through Dec. 15.

Lab workers can "make a holiday wish come true" by visiting a Holiday Drive display and selecting a Holiday Tag for a child or a senior citizen, said Debbi Wersonick of the Community Relations (CRO) Office, which coordinates the Holiday Drive. Each tag has the gender and age of a child as well as the child's wish for a toy. Lab employees can purchase a toy and return the item unwrapped with the Holiday Tag to designated collection boxes around the Lab. The Angel Tags are available at the collection boxes and at CRO in downtown Los Alamos.

Laboratory employees also can "adopt" a family in need by providing toys, clothing and food items for a holiday meal.

Lab workers also can select a "Senior Holiday Tag" and purchase a fleece blanket or lap blanket or sweatsuits for needy elderly individuals in Northern New Mexico, said Wersonick. Clothing items aren't being collected for children this year, she added.

Collection sites for this year's Holiday Drive are in the following locations:

• Otowi Building cafeteria lobby at Technical Area 3
• S-Site at TA-16/Engineering Sciences and Applications (ESA) Division Office
• Access Center at Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building, TA-3
• Access Center at TA-55
• Community Relations Office, 1619 Central Ave., Los Alamos.

Other sites may be added.

Wersonick noted that the Lab is conducting this year's Holiday Drive in cooperation with the Salvation Army, which provides assistance to individuals and families in Santa Fe, Española, Los Alamos, Taos, Las Vegas and other Northern New Mexico communities. Items that are collected through the drive will be distributed by the Salvation Army Dec. 20, said Wersonick.

"The Holiday Drive is an opportunity for each of us to share in the spirit of the season by providing some of our less fortunate neighbors with a more joyful holiday. Please join me in making someone's holiday a brighter one this year," said Lillian Montoya-Rael, CRO leader.

For more information about the Holiday Drive, or to obtain additional Holiday Tags, contact Wersonick at 7-7870 or write to sonic@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

--Steve Sandoval

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