July 27, 2015 — The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory kicked off its 2015 United Way campaign with an agency fair displaying services United Way organizations provide to East Tennesseans.
Jeff Smith, ORNL’s deputy director for operations, said ORNL is one of the largest contributors to United Way in the area.
“It has been a part of the laboratory for a long time,” Smith said. “Our staff have been key contributors to United Way it seems forever. Our goal is not to let that history dissipate and we’d like to build on it. The people here at the laboratory are giving people. Our job as leaders of the institution is to give them that chance to give.”
Smith said he hopes the agency fair will introduce new employees and others to the benefits of United Way, enhancing support for the organization.
“Our goal today is just to expose people to it so that they become more familiar,” Smith said. “Ultimately, unless you give, you are not going to want to give. We hope some of the agencies can tell some stories to help people connect in such a way that they want to become a United Way giver.”
ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy's Office of Science.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.