Happy Spring!
As the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) embarks on our second year, we want to thank our supporters and partners for making LLF’s work possible. We are pleased to share with you some of the milestones we have passed since our December update.
Exploring Collaboration to Improve Healthcare
LLF was excited to meet with Donor Network West (DNWest), an organ procurement organization serving California and Nevada. DNWest is one of 58 US organ procurement organizations, and is proud to be the third largest. Their mission is to save lives through organ and tissue donation for transplantation and research.
We’re all about IDEAS!
We are excited about a new LLF program starting this year, Inclusion & Diversity in Engineering And the Sciences: IDEAS. Its objective is to help reduce hurdles and provide opportunities for students who come from underserved backgrounds to experience the research and collaborative environment of a national laboratory. Ideally, these students will be motivated to pursue a STEM education and career, and possibly join LLNL’s workforce one day. With a vision to impact students of all ages, IDEAS will initially bring 4-6 underserved high school students to intern at LLNL for four weeks this summer.
We look forward to sharing IDEAS highlights and photos in an upcoming LLF newsletter, and interacting with you to help shape the program. Your ideas (pun intended) are welcome.
Another First for LLF!
On March 22, LLF hosted its first donor thank you reception at the new Sidewinder Spirits Lounge in Livermore. We welcomed about 30 guests, served wine from two Lab employee-affiliated wineries, Occasio Winery and Entropy Cellars, surprised guests with door prizes from Alden Lane Nursery, and enjoyed cuisine from local favorite Posada Restaurant. Our speaker lineup included LLF President Dona Crawford, LLF Board Member Buck Koonce, and UNCLE Credit Union leaders Harold Roundtree and Chung Bothwell.
LLF to Support Summer Student Symposium
The Foundation is proud to support LLNL’s annual Summer Student Poster Symposium this year. LLNL’s Poster Symposium takes place every year in August, providing undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to present their work to Lab employees and management.
The Institutional Summer Poster Symposium is the capstone event for the Lab’s summer program in which summer students showcase work they’ve done on their projects. The Lab’s summer program not only supports STEM education, which ultimately benefits the students and their communities, but also provides opportunities for the Lab to assess and recruit the most promising summer students into permanent positions.
Last year, about 300 students presented posters. To help incentivize participation and excellence, LLNL staff and management will judge the posters. The most outstanding poster presenters in each area will receive cash awards and certificates of recognition, presented by Livermore Lab Foundation at a Lab-wide award ceremony.
Our Foundation
We formed the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) to provide opportunities for philanthropic support of scientific research, technology development and educational endeavors at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — with the aim of advancing fundamental knowledge, creating transformative technologies, and enhancing human health, safety, and quality of life for current and future generations.
It's encouraging to see the great interest and need out there that LLF aims to address. People have asked how they can help. We would love for you to spread the word to friends, neighbors, relatives, and colleagues. Each presentation, event, and 1:1 meeting has helped LLF garner new ideas for projects, contributors, and supporters
You can also volunteer to help with LLF events and fundraising. In the near term, we are planning a fall fundraising event, and are always looking for ideas to help raise money for our mission. Please contact us if you are interested in volunteering or have suggestions. For more information on LLF and for updates, visit our website.
With your help and our increasing network of supporters, we look forward to many exciting accomplishments throughout 2018!!
With gratitude,
Dona
LLF President