ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories employees and retirees in 2014 increased donations to the United Way of Central New Mexico (UWCNM) by 8.2 percent over the previous year, giving $6,556,666 to the charitable organization.
“Sandians are amazingly generous and recognize the community’s needs,” said Pam Catanach, who coordinates the labs’ Employee Caring Program (ECP). “They want to help.”
Albuquerque Reads is a program supported by the United Way of Central New Mexico’s Community Fund. The Career Guidance Institute administers the program, which is a partnership with the Albuquerque Public Schools to help kindergarten students at Title 1 schools through one-on-one tutoring. There are about 200 children in Albuquerque Reads and more than 500 volunteers. (Photo courtesy of the United Way of Central New Mexico) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image.
The 2014 campaign stressed participation over dollars, and a record 77.3 percent of the Sandia workforce contributed. Employees with five or fewer years increased participation by 6 percent to 69 percent. “Given the growth of the labs and the large number of newer employees, seeing their participation go up so much lays a great future for continuing the tradition of the ECP at Sandia,” said campaign chairman Grant Heffelfinger.
The labs also set a total contribution record, giving $491,595 more than in 2013. The retiree share of the total was $851,109. Some $1,697,867 was designated to the UWCNM’s Community Fund, an increase of $102,344 over the previous year. The fund supports a range of nonprofit agencies and programs that help people in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia counties.
Deputy Laboratories Director and Executive Vice President for Mission Support Kim Sawyer, chair of UWCNM board of directors and a past campaign chair, called the 2014 ECP “the peoples’ campaign” because Sandia employees take such pride in its success and impact on the community.
Ed Rivera, UWCNM’s president and CEO, said Sandia’s generosity is an inspiration. Since the ECP was launched in 1957, Sandia has been the single largest supporter of the organization’s annual campaign, contributing about $90 million. “Sandia National Labs and the Employee Caring Program epitomize generosity in support of vital needs in our community,” Rivera said. “We deeply value our long partnership and extraordinary engagement with so many donors and volunteers at Sandia. Thanks to the involvement and generous support of Sandia Labs employees, the lives of many children and families throughout our community will be improved.”
Randy Woodcock, UWCNM vice president and chief strategic officer, has provided staff support to the Sandia ECP since 1996. “I have often heard Sandians say, ‘What gets measured gets done,’” he said. “This past campaign, Sandia set a goal of growing donations to the Community Fund. Once again, Sandians rose to the challenge. Community Fund giving will be used to improve the lives of tens of thousands of people in need right here in central New Mexico.”
Click here for more information on Sandia’s Community Involvement.
Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies and economic competitiveness.
Sandia news media contact: Nancy Salem, mnsalem@sandia.gov, (505) 844-2739