Program now in ninth year
The Los Alamos Employees' Scholarship Fund, which encourages Laboratory employees, retirees and subcontract personnel to donate to a fund that awards college scholarships to Northern New Mexico area students, begins today.
Lab workers have until May 31 to return completed forms to the nonprofit Laboratory Foundation offices in Española. Remittance envelopes will be included with pledge forms, which are scheduled to be mailed to all Laboratory workers at their mail stops this week.
Tony Fox of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, which manages the scholarship fund, said the Los Alamos Employees' Scholarship Fund drive advisory board members will make a direct appeal to Lab workers by going out to various technical areas to talk about the scholarship program and to accept completed pledge cards.
"Employees at Los Alamos continue to demonstrate their willingness to invest in the future of Northern New Mexico and the Laboratory by contributing to this scholarship fund, and I am confident that this year will be no exception," said Julie Johnston of ES&H Training (PS-13), chair of the Los Alamos Employees' Scholarship Fund Advisory Board. "The quality of our student applicants keeps improving. We always seem to run out of money before we run out of deserving students. All of these students are so deserving of these scholarships."
Since the program's inception, University of California Laboratory employees and subcontract personnel have contributed more than $1 million in donations or pledges to the Los Alamos Employees' Scholarship Fund giving campaign. Some 350 high school seniors or college undergraduates have received scholarships through the fund since 1998. Payroll deductions start in September and will continue unless otherwise instructed by the donor. Employees can make changes to their pledge amounts by contacting the Laboratory Foundation.
Employees also can make a one-time donation. Personal checks can be written to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation. Lab personnel also can make pledges online by going to the foundation Web page at www.lanlfoundation.org online. Employees also can pledge through payroll deduction or with a Visa or Mastercard.
The LANL Foundation is a philanthropic grant-giving entity created in 1997. It supports a range of regional and community not-for-profit organizations.
For more information on the scholarship fund, write to Fox of the Laboratory Foundation at tfox@lanlfoundation.org by electronic mail or contact Debbi Wersonick of Los Alamos’ Community Relations (CRO) Office at 7-7870.
