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December 08 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine
Making spirits bright
Ginger Grant of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, right, and Paula Kupay of PM Tech Inc., a Laboratory subcontractor, gather and wrap items for the “100+ Special Children" program. Photo by Sandra Valdez
For more than a decade, employees at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, Accelerator, Operations, and Technology, and others throughout the Laboratory have made the holiday season brighter for underprivileged children. Each year, LANSCE's “100+ Special Children" program sponsors more than 100 children from Northern New Mexico and provides them with clothing and toys.
The dedicated people behind the campaign are Ginger Grant of the LANSCE Division Office and Paula Kupay of PM Tech Inc., a Laboratory subcontractor. Grant, who's been with the Laboratory since 1984, said the idea for a holiday drive came from an all-employee meeting held by then-Laboratory Director Sig Hecker. “Sig talked about the importance of giving back to the community," she said. “That resonated with me. When I moved back here as a single mother with two young boys, I didn't have much money. Volunteers from the women's auxiliary came and gave me a check. That's how my children had Christmas that year."
After successfully starting 100+ Special Children at the former Facility Safeguards and Security Division, Grant continued the program at LANSCE when she transferred there. Each year, she and her team gather a list of less-fortunate children from Santa Fe, Española, or Taos. “This year, we've selected 100 of the neediest children in the Española area and are asking LANSCE employees to choose a child and provide him or her with shoes, a shirt, pants, and a toy." No child has ever been missed, said Kupay, who has been helping with the campaign for two years. “We do this because the children are our future. At Christmas, that one special day when the world is at peace, they need to know that they are special too," Grant said.
Grant and Kupay expressed their gratitude to Lab employees for their generosity. “Last year, Ruth Ann Neal (of the Chief Financial Officer Division) knitted scarves and donated all the proceeds to the program," Kupay said.
—Tatjana K. Rosev
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