Brookhaven National Laboratory Gives Back

The Adopt a Platoon organization was formed to support deployed military personnel. Individuals, organizations, and companies who adopt a platoon pledge to sent at least one care package a month along with cards and letters through the adopt-a-platoon program, though AAP also has other campaigns interested parties can join.

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), a research institution funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy, is one organization that participates in the AAP program.

Photo by Brookhaven National Laboratory. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Brookhaven doesn't provide a section on their website about employee volunteer programs, but it does seem that many employees feel called to serve their nation and community. In addition to the AAP initiative, employee volunteers recently provided gifts and gift cards for those in the community who might not otherwise have the resources to celebrate through the Community Youth and Family Services Agency's Adopt-a-Family Program. Tara Shiels of the Lab’s Community Relations Office, who coordinates the Brookhaven Lab donations, remarked, “It was amazing. On collection day, the gifts just kept streaming in to our conference room. It really put me in the holiday spirit.” The lab's press release provides photographs from Brookhaven National Laboratory Adopt-A-Family Activities.

One of the past activities that caught my eye was completed in 2010, when delegates from the lab attended the Federally Employed Women (FEW) annual meeting in New Orleans. Attendees from the lab, along with some spouses, spent two hours making 335 booms filled with natural material like hair for Matter of Trust to help soak up oil from the BP oil spill.

FEW conference attendees from BNL with the pile of 335 booms they made to help clean up the oil in the Gulf.

MaryAnn Maggio, an employee of BNL who had been heartbroken when watching the coverage of the oil spill, decided to arrange the service activity in conjunction with the FEW conference. Maggio reflected on the experience, “It’s about women being passionate and making a difference. I think we made a good showing.”

BNL's community outreach activities show the diverse forms social action at work can take and demonstrate that not all activities need to be coordinated by someone in the CSR or community relations department. Any employee with a passion can marshall an organization's resources - human or otherwise - to address a social issue.