NREL Employees and Managing Partner Pledge $500,000 to Aid Area Charities

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2013 charitable giving campaign surpasses previous giving record.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 14, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — The employees of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, have pledged more than $500,000 to support local charities during the lab’s annual holiday giving campaign.

NREL employees have committed more than $466,000 to the Partnership for Colorado, Mile High United Way and other charities. The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, which manages NREL for the U.S. Department of Energy, will contribute another 10 percent for every dollar of the employee contributions for a total gift of more than $513,000. The previous record was set in 2011 when NREL employees and the Alliance contributed a total of $473,000 to area charities.

“NREL’s employees come through time and time again when it comes to sustaining those who need a helping hand in our community,” said William Farris, NREL’s associate laboratory director for Innovation Partnering and Outreach and giving campaign co-chair. “That we were able to again break our record for charitable giving speaks volumes of the individuals who work at NREL.”

NREL allows employees to designate their funds to any agency served by Partnership for Colorado or the United Way, or to any nonprofit agency of the employees’ choice. Employees designated about 75 percent of their gifts to community service agencies under the Partnership for Colorado banner, and the remaining money to United Way agencies and other specified charitable organizations.

Donations have been pledged primarily through payroll deduction for 2013 and will be delivered to the agencies periodically through the year. However, this year the lab also hosted a number of volunteer opportunities for staff who were able to give of their time. “We offered six volunteer opportunities throughout the campaign and roughly 225 hours was spent giving back to our community,” said Debra Coyle, NREL Human Resources Generalist and giving campaign co-chair.

Throughout the year, NREL’s staff council also organizes other volunteer events such as a summer food drive, which this past year collected more than 1,000 pounds of food — enough to feed 50 adults and 100 children for a week.

Partnership for Colorado is a collaborative effort of Caring Connection, Community Health Charities of Colorado, and Community Shares of Colorado. Since 1982 Partnership for Colorado has united community-minded businesses and generous employees with more than 200 local nonprofit organizations through its annual Community Giving Campaign.

Mile High United Way combines the collective strength of more than 40,000 donors, 800 local businesses, more than 100 non-profit partners, and local and state government, Mile High United Way has been leading the movement for positive change for 125 years. Mile High United Way unites people, ideas and resources to advance the common good and concentrates on helping people of all ages, in every stage of their lives, through three interconnected areas of change: School Readiness, Youth Success and Adult Self-Sufficiency.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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