Idaho National Laboratory increases corporate contribution in response to need

In a tough economic year, Battelle Energy Alliance is increasing its corporate gift to United Way by 10 percent — to a record $55,000. And across the laboratory, employees continue to respond with compassion and ingenuity to community needs supported by the United Way.

INL United Way Champion Karen Downer said the corporate increase speaks for itself.

“United Way agencies provide a safety net that helps more than 100,000 people in eastern Idaho each year,” she said. “INL employees provide very significant financial support to the United Way, both in our five-county region and in the seven-county region served by United Way of Southeastern Idaho from Pocatello. We want our employees to know how much we appreciate their generous giving in support of United Way. The past year has been tough economically. And even though our region of the country has fared better than many, United Way agencies are hard-pressed to meet the increased demand for their services.

“We hope our increased corporate gift encourages others – both corporations and individuals – to take similar action. United Way agencies provide compassionate care and assistance all year long. And that makes United Way one of the best ways to invest in the future while helping those in need today.”

United Way reports local agencies are seeing increased requests for many kinds of services as the economy remains sluggish. As an example, requests for food, rental assistance and utility assistance are significantly greater than at the same time last year, said Suzy Hersh at the Salvation Army office in Idaho Falls. While Salvation Army has not turned away anyone requesting food, sometimes the agency cannot meet every request for rent and utility help, she noted.

Two regional United Way offices will benefit from the increased BEA gift. United Way of Idaho Falls and Bonneville, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison and Teton counties serves the five-county region where the majority of INL’s 4,000 employees reside. United Way of Southeastern Idaho, located in Pocatello, serves Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Caribou, Franklin, Oneida and Power counties and Fort Hall – some of which are also home to a significant number of laboratory employees.

The entire corporate gift will be divided in accordance with the percentage of employee payroll deductions going to each region of United Way. In addition to payroll deductions, INL employees conduct a variety of events such as bake sales, luncheons, a golf tournament, an online auction and others – raising several thousand additional dollars for United Way each year.

INL is one of the DOE’s 10 multiprogram national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of the strategic goal areas of DOE: energy, national security, science and environment. INL is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.

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