LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY RAISES $16,000 FOR LOS ALAMOS VICTIMS

LIVERMORE, CALIF. – Employees from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory raised more than $16,000 to assist victims of the Cerro Grande fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The money will go directly to assist the employees of DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory whose homes were lost or damaged.

Employees from Lawrence Livermore's Defense & Nuclear Technologies Directorate volunteered their lunch hours to collect money over three days at the lab's cafeterias.

"So much of what we do at the Lab is a collaborative and sometimes competitive effort with Los Alamos," explained Michael Anastasio, associate director for DNT. "Both laboratories have a long history of working together on the stockpile and many of us have worked with people from Los Alamos for years. They are not only our colleagues, but many of us have developed personal relationships.

"We hope that what we have collected will help them to know that they have our complete support," he said.

Approximately 216 LANL employees lost homes to the Cerro Grande fire, and 25,000 people were forced to evacuate from Los Alamos, nearby White Rock and Espanola. By comparison, in the 1991 Oakland/Berkeley Hills firestorm, 225 UC employees (from campuses and the Berkeley and Livermore labs) lost homes.

Donations to the relief effort can still be made through a variety of funds. Checks earmarked Los Alamos Fire Relief Fund may be sent to the nearest American Red Cross, or to the UC Northern New Mexico Fire Relief Fund, at the Los Alamos National Bank, P.O. Box 60, Los Alamos NM 87544, Account 96358501.