Welcome to McLinc’s
December 2012 Newsletter
Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. (McLinc) welcomes you as a reader of our December 2012 newsletter. The format of this newsletter is a little different from the usual technical feature article and guest article. This month’s theme is “McLinc Employees Celebrate the Christmas Season by Giving – Collectively and Individually.” We are utilizing this issue to bring you stories about some of our favorite charities and to share with you the joy we find in being able to give to others.
While McLinc employees are finding time in their busy laboratory schedules to plan our annual Christmas Party at the Heritage Conference Center, we have asked them to contribute a short paragraph about their family’s experiencing the joy of giving during this holiday season. Their stories will possibly acquaint you with some new ideas about sharing with those in need. Each of us invites you to share in that joy.
Collectively, the employee-owners of McLinc have decided to provide gifts for an Oak Ridge family who would otherwise not be able to have gifts this Christmas season. Jo Bruce at the Family Resource Center helped us identify the family – a Mom, two boys, and their younger sister who live with their Grandmother. Mrs. Bruce tells a heartwarming story of her agency’s work in a guest article this month.
The newsletter is not long enough for us to comment on all the worthwhile organizations supported by McLinc and our employees. A few that we will mention include: Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts; Boy and Girls Club of Oak Ridge; Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge; CASA of the Tennessee Heartland; Girls Incorporated; Oak Ridge Public School Education Foundation; Roane State Foundation; United Way; Second Harvest; and Roane Imagination Library. We appreciate the work of these organizations and of the hundreds of volunteers who deliver the services they provide.
Growing up in West Tennessee, I learned from my Dad the satisfaction that comes from giving to others. Dad taught that true charity was given without expectation of a return and was given anonymously. Dad was certainly not wealthy enough to be considered a philanthropist. Most of his monetary gifts were given through our Church and qualified as anonymous.
However, he was often known by the recipients to whom he gave gifts of service. I came to understand that both of his criteria for true charity addressed the purpose of the gift rather than actual anonymity. Our stories of charity are offered in that spirit – without expectation of a return or recognition for the act.
While not a part of the theme of this Newsletter, there is an announcement we want to share with you. We recently implemented some organizational changes at McLinc that will strengthen our delivery of excellent services to our clients.
Michele Sanders has recently been appointed to the position of Laboratory Manager and Dr. Greg Wagner has assumed the role of Director of Business Development. Greg will be consulting with potential clients to design solutions to their process and product problems and to address analytical testing needs of all sorts. Michele will direct day-to-day operations in the laboratory.
Finally, we express our gratitude to you – our friends and customers. Your friendship and patronage are essential to the continued success of McLinc. Thank you and please let us know your thoughts about how we can serve you better.
We hope you enjoy the Newsletter and pass it along to anyone you think may be interested. We invite you to visit our laboratory here at the Heritage Center (ETTP) (K25) and learn more about us at our website. As you make plans for 2013, please reserve some time on February 14, 2013 to enjoy our Customer Appreciation pancake breakfast at McLinc’s Heritage Conference Center.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.
Enjoy the holidays!
Barry Stephenson
President/CEO
Oak Ridge Schools Family Resource Center
The Oak Ridge Schools Family Resource Center (FRC), under the direction of Jo Bruce and assisted by Jessica Bivens, is so happy to add Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. to their list of sponsors for our Angel Tree project. By utilizing more than 25 corporate sponsors and many caring individuals, the FRC will be able to provide more than 600 children with the magic that comes in believing in Christmas.
Our Angel Tree project is a huge undertaking. Each Christmas we identify children who are not being served by other agencies in town and then work with many generous organizations, businesses and caring individuals to ensure that no child be left without at Christmas. It is one of our favorite projects because we ensure that no child be deprived the joy that Christmas brings. Children of poverty are used to being disappointed and often are distrustful. We are able to help repair that trust by utilizing the faith and pure joy that Christmas brings a child.
The FRC has been housed at Willow Brook Elementary School since 1993. The center serves as a support to all Oak Ridge Schools. Its mission is to break down barriers to a child’s educational success and to eliminate problems that keep families from becoming fully functioning and independent members of our community. Studies show that the two main ingredients needed to move a family out of poverty are a strong family or support system and higher education. The FRC is governed by a volunteer board that must be comprised of at least 50 percent parents that are or have been served by the program. This allows us to truly focus on the needs of our community and to make sure that we are not duplicating services already available. A huge amount of our day is assisting families in connecting to existing services and helping them navigate each system.
In order for the center to meet its mission it must have sufficient staff to approach each family individually and to deliver a myriad of services. We partner with more than 200 professional, medical and social services agencies to meet the needs of our children and their families. The center serves more than 2,000 people each school year. Problems range from homelessness to job loss to medical needs to educational barriers. We provide case management and transportation on an as needed basis.
We offer many different programs through the FRC. We have highlighted a few programs to show you how you can get involved in the lives of our children and families throughout the year. We offer parenting education opportunities through workshops and one on one parent meetings. We host fun family events so that we can more fully engage our parents in their child’s school. We have had tremendous success with parents as they learn how to stretch their dollars and how to cook a healthy economical meal.
Another program offered through the FRC is the Readers and Leaders tutorial program where community leaders are matched with children in our four elementary schools. These tutors/mentors then build relationships with students utilizing a good book and a by making a commitment to their student to visit with them every week for 30 minutes. The confidence that they help develop in these young readers is reaping huge benefits as we watch their reading test scores climb. Last year we had 39 volunteers reading with 53 students and they logged 1,530 hours of reading time. This year we have grown the program to 56 tutors.
The FRC also coordinates the Food 4 Kids program for all Oak Ridge Schools. Last year with the help of Second Harvest, Wal-mart, and First United Methodist Church we packed food to send home with 481 children each week and this year’s numbers are very similar. Last year over 15,074 bags of food were packed and sent home with students each Friday to ensure that no child goes hungry over the weekend.
We also offer emergency assistance to families that cannot access other programs. Last year we provided emergency assistance to many families that would otherwise have fallen through the cracks of our system. Support included gasoline cards to go to work, food, utility and rental assistance and medicines for families with no insurance. This service is made available by local grants and individual monetary donations made to the FRC.
None of these programs could exist without the support of this most generous Oak Ridge community. If you would like to further partner with the Family Resource Center, please call Jo Bruce at 425-3205 or Jessica Bivens at 425-9401. You may also reach Ms. Bruce through email at jbruce@ortn.edu.
McLinc Announces New Staff Appointments
Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. (McLinc) is pleased to announce that Ms. Michele Sanders has been appointed to the position of Laboratory Manager. In this position she is responsible for the day-to-day management of analysis departments in the laboratory. Michele earned a B.S. in chemistry from Nicholls State University. She joined McLinc in 2005 as a Senior Chemist and has more than 25 years of experience in analytical testing and laboratory management. Michele previously managed the organic and inorganic laboratories at McLinc and was principal analyst for metals by ICP-AES and ICP-MS. Michele has multiple publications and several patents in the area of environmental and pollution control. She is also trained in statistical analysis which is instrumental for industrial forensics and analytical technologies and procedures. We welcome Michele as a member of McLinc’s Senior Management Staff.
Dr. Greg Wagner has been appointed Director of Business Development and will expand McLinc’s investigative testing for new commercial and government sectors. Greg received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Tennessee. Prior to joining McLinc in 2005, he did extensive work in air pollution control technology. Greg’s experience at McLinc has included project design and implementation, as well as, direction of laboratory analysis functions. Greg applies a hands-on analytical approach to problem solving and goal attainment and has provided technical support to customers, managed a staff of scientists and technicians, and interfaced with engineering project managers, executive management, and investors. Contact Greg at (865) 576 5632 for additional information. Greg’s background in solving technical problems plus his experience in laboratory operations will provide better services for McLinc’s customers.
About MCLinc
MCLinc provides both consulting services and characterization analyses in three primary areas:
1. Specialty Environmental –
the “specialty” category may be defined by the sample origin, its categorization as an unknown, a matrix difficulty that requires a method modification, the presence of radioactive or hazardous material in the sample or the need for an analysis for which there is no published or routinely utilized methodology.
2. Forensic Investigation –
the use of trace evidence to establish sample origin or the source of a product or process failure relies heavily on the powerful fusion of the technical staff’s expertise and MCLinc’s broad array of instrumental capability, which includes four electron microscopes.
3. Process Optimization –
MCLinc’s ability to build bench-scale models of chemical processes and test those models has enabled us to develop solutions in accident investigations, waste treatability studies, chemical process optimization, formulation for non-radiological surrogates for highly radioactive waste treatments, recipes for onsite groundwater treatment, materials compatibility for chemically hostile environments and improvement of manufacturing techniques in a variety of industrial processes and failure investigations.
Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc.
East Tennessee Technology Park,
2010 Highway 58
400 Heritage Center Blvd,
Building K-1006
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830-1702
(865) 576-4138
bstephenson@mcl-inc.com
www.MCL-inc.com
Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge
The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, a non-profit organization, has provided hands-on learning experiences for children since its beginning in 1973. In addition to having captured much of the area’s rich history in exhibits, the museum provides enriching experiences for students through special projects such as the Youth Advisory Council and an After School Program. Each year, the Oak Ridge community looks forward to a new adventure when they attend the fund-raising gala at the museum. McLinc is proud to be a sponsor for the gala event.
ADFAC – Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is an independent non-profit agency serving primarily low-income residents in Anderson and surrounding Appalachian counties. ADFAC’s goal is to help families become stable and self-sufficient through a variety of direct assistance services. Whether providing utility bill assistance through project SAFE, coordinating food services through the “Feed the Need” campaign, or distributing school supplies to needy children in the area, ADFAC controls administrative cost so that well over 90 percent of its budget is spent for direct program services. Learn more about ADFAC at www.adfac.org.
Operation Christmas Child
McLinc Laboratory Manager, Michele Sanders and her family are giving back this Christmas season via Operation Christmas child through Samaritan’s Purse Relief Organization. The organizations donate shoe boxes to be given to a girl or boy in the age groups of 2-4, 5-9, and 10-14. The shoe boxes are filled with items like school supplies, small toys, T-shirts, hygiene items, and other things like sunglasses and flash lights. These boxes are distributed in places like Africa, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines. This year Operation Christmas Child will deliver their 100 millionth box to a child in need.
Michele said, “This is the only Christmas gift many of these children will received because their families are very poor, and they get very excited when they get these boxes. It is a privilege to bring some joy to a child’s life in Jesus’ name.”
Wounded Warrior Fund, Salvation Army, and KARM
McLinc employee Jack Hall and his wife will be donating to the Wounded Warrior Fund, Salvation Army and the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries this Christmas season. The Wounded Warrior Fund provides help to thousands of wounded veterans returning from active duty and helps provide assistance to their families. The Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) provides daily for those in need by first supplying rescue services of food and shelter, then healthy, supportive relationships, and ultimately restoration, including job-training opportunities. The Salvation Army’s mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet the human needs in his name without discrimination. The Salvation Army is an international movement that provides assistance to people from all walks of life.
Santa’s Sleigh
Kassie Perkins is a McLinc employee and the Tennessee Valley A&I Fairest of the Fair. To give back to the community this Christmas season, Kassie will be wrapping presents for the “Santa’s Sleigh” program of Karns. For more than 32 years, the Karns Fire Department has been “Santa” to hundreds of children who live or go to school in the communities of Karns, Hardin Valley, Solway, and Ball Camp. Last year, Santa’s Sleigh provided gifts for more than one-hundred and forty-three children and plans to top that number this year.
Kassie said, “It is great to give back to the community and help out a great cause. I am honored to help an organization that makes such a difference during the Christmas season.”
FISH Hospitality Pantries
McLinc employee, Linda Maines and her family will be donating to the FISH Hospitality Pantries in Knoxville in light of the Christmas season. FISH Hospitality Pantries operates four pantries in East, South, Northwest, and West Knoxville. They currently provide food to more than 11,000 families every month. In Knox County 57,000 people live in poverty; more than twenty-five percent of them are children. Thousands of other families live near the poverty line and struggle for the basic necessities to live. The number of families who come to the FISH pantries has more than doubled in the last two years.
Rotary Foundation
Barry Stephenson at McLinc finds it impossible to name a single charity as his favorite. Contributions to organizations that support education and projects that make a sustainable impact are important. One such organization is the Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation is supported by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation. Known best for its work on the eradication of polio, the Foundation funds projects worldwide with an aim to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The fact that many of these projects involve a local Rotary Club in a location where the project is being done gives a level of assurance that funds are being administered in the most effective way. You can find more information at www.Rotary.org.
P.O. Box 5808 | Oak Ridge, TN 37831 US
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