OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sept. 24, 2013 –After a kick off with football coach Butch Jones, fund-raising events throughout the summer, and a campaign that added three dozen Leadership givers, UT-Battelle announced that its 2013 United Way campaign raised $901,048 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
“Forty percent of ORNL’s workforce has participated as campaign contributors this year,” said campaign chairman Becky Verastegui. “The amount we raise will be distributed to the 17 counties our employees live in.”
Verastegui announced the total during the annual ORNL United Way Leadership Givers breakfast and auction. Leadership Givers contribute a certain percentage of their base salary per pay period. She noted that Leadership Givers’ numbers have increased by 36 this year to a total of 451.
ORNL Director Thom Mason thanked those employees who have contributed to this year’s campaign.
“Once again our staff has opened its hearts and displayed true East Tennessee volunteer spirit in helping those in need who depend on United Way agencies for assistance,” Mason said.
Verastegui said the number 13 was used during the summer of 2013 to encourage support for the campaign.
“We asked people to think in ways such as giving $13 more a month and we tried to get 13 percent of previous non-participants to participate and we were successful all the way around in those efforts,” Verastegui said. “We’re trying to increase the overall understanding of United Way.”
There were 21 United Way events at ORNL throughout the summer, starting with a June visit from University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones to kick off the campaign.
Approximately 150 ambassadors and coordinators worked with their respective staffs throughout ORNL to promote United Way.
UT-Battelle is one of the largest United Way corporate sponsors in East Tennessee.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL 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.