Welcome To MCLinc’s
December 2013 Newsletter
Employees of Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. (MCLinc) welcome you as a reader of our December 2013 newsletter. The format of this newsletter is a little different from the usual technical feature article and guest article. We continue a theme adopted for last year’s December issue: “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.
Our feature article this month highlights the work of CASA of the Tennessee Heartland. In May, this agency celebrated 25 years of service in Anderson County. During this 25 years more than 3,500 children have had someone to sit in court with them, to speak up for them and to advocate for a forever family for them. MCLinc salutes the volunteers and supporters of CASA who have made this possible. We are proud to be a corporate sponsor of CASA and ask you to join us in this work.
Collectively, the employee-owners of MCLinc will again this year provide gifts for Oak Ridge children who would otherwise not be able to have gifts this Christmas season. If you are not familiar with the work of the Oak Ridge Schools Resource Center, please take time to read a heartwarming story of the agency’s work in this month’s Newsletter.
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; Rotary International; and Roane Imagination Library. We appreciate the work of these organizations and of the hundreds of volunteers who deliver the services they provide.
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 will pass it along to anyone you think may be interested. We invite you to visit our laboratory here at the Heritage Center (ETTP) (K25) or learn more about us at our website – www.mcl-inc.com. As you make plans for 2014, please reserve some time on February 13, 2014 to enjoy our Customer Appreciation pancake breakfast at MCLinc’s Heritage Conference Center.
We wish you a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the Holidays. Barry
MCLinc Supports CASA
As a corporate sponsor, MCLinc. is proud to support the work of CASA of the Tennessee Heartland. CASA is a non-profit, volunteer-based agency with a mission to empower volunteers to advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in juvenile court. A CASA volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocate) is a trained community member appointed by the juvenile judge to represent the best interest of a child in court by providing the court with a carefully researched background of the child. The CASA volunteer, after investigation, makes recommendations about placement and services and to recommend that it is in the child’s best interest to stay with his or her parents or guardians, be placed in other situations such as foster care or be freed for permanent adoption. When necessary, a volunteer advocates to ensure that the child is receiving needed services and monitors the case to be sure that the child does not become lost in a complex system.
In order to prepare a recommendation the CASA volunteer interviews the child, parents, and other family members, social workers, school officials, health provider and others who are knowledgeable about the child. The CASA volunteer also reviews written records pertaining to the child. The CASA volunteer does not investigate the actual abuse. The CASA volunteer does not replace workers from other agencies involved in a case. The volunteer is an independent appointee of the court and can make recommendations independent of state and federal agency restrictions. CASA volunteers come from all walks of life with a wide variety of professional, educational, and ethnic backgrounds. Nationally there are more than 58,000 volunteers in more than 950 programs. Volunteers must pass a comprehensive background check and screening process.
There are many costs associated with recruiting volunteers, providing background checks, training and support. To help defray these costs, CASA of the Tennessee Heartland has a Corporate Partnership Program. MCLinc. is a proud Bronze level Corporate Partner to this life changing program. Naomi Asher, executive director of CASA of the Tennessee Heartland, says; “Please accept our heartfelt thanks for MCLinc.’s support and sponsorship of CASA of the Tennessee Heartland. Because of your generosity, many children will achieve a safe, stable nurturing home in as short a time as possible, helping insure that there is a positive, long-term outcome for the child who has been abused.”
MCLinc. asks, as you spend time with your family this holiday season, to remember that every child deserves a safe and loving forever family.
If you would like to become a corporate sponsor or volunteer for CASA of the Tennessee Heartland you can contact Naomi Asher at (865) 425-0888.
CASA’s Christmas Wish List includes:
– Peace in everyone’s home – Hope for the year to come – Advocates for every child that needs a stronger voice – Runaway teens to return to a safe place – Strength and wisdom for our staff and volunteers – Hot chocolate, fireplaces and more Downton Abbey for all
children’s Museum of Oak Ridge
MCLinc. sponsored the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge fund raising Gala again this year. The Gala was an exciting evening of entertainment, fine food, and celebration. It was a 70s team in light of The Children’s Museum’s 40th Anniversary. Modern-day hippies in attendance, travel on the “Soul Train” to the Southern Terminal of Knoxville, Tennessee to celebrate folk, rock, and pop culture through song and dance with Saxophone Jack and Friends. Attendees experience Rocketing through the 70s and enjoyed a festive dinner of authentic 70’s-style cuisine.
MCLinc would like to congratulate the Children’s Museum on 40 years of excellent service to the Oak Ridge and surrounding communities!
Oak Ridge Schools Family Resource Center
Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. is helping to sponsor the Oak Ridge Schools Family Resource Center (FRC) Angel Tree project again this year. This program is directed by Jo Bruce and Assisted by Jessica Bivens. By utilizing over 25 corporate sponsors and many caring individuals the FRC will be able to provide over 600 children with the magic that comes in believing in Christmas. 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 atjbruce@ortn.edu.
McLinc Donates $2,000 to Roane Imagination Library
McLinc’s Kassie Perkins, Miss Tennessee, presented a $2,000 check to the Roane Imagination Library on behalf of Mclinc and her platform which involves childhood literacy. McLinc’s donation was matched by Pro2serve,which donated $7,500 to match funds raised for the Imagination Library. This foundation supplies one book a month to all children from birth to five years of age. The program is 100% free to the children; however, they must be signed up for the program to receive the books. If you know a child under five who is not receiving books from the Imagination Library please notify Jill McMaster at roaneimaginationlibr@gmail.com to help a child in your life be a part of this wonderful program.
McLinc to Celebrate with Christmas Party
McLinc will host an employee and family Christmas party on Saturday, December 14th. There will be a surprise visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus for the children.
Miss Tennessee Kassie Perkins
McLinc. is proud to announce that employee, Kassie Perkins, has been crowned Miss Tennessee International 2014. Kassie will compete for the title of Miss International in July of 2014. Kassie is an accounting assistant at McLinc and Junior at Tennessee Tech University. This Christmas season Kassie will be hosting a book drive to benefit the Books Have Wings foundation. This Foundation adds one book to every child’s backpack involved in the Food4Kids program. – (This is a need based programs that strives to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children). Promoting and raising money for childhood programs coincides with Kassie’s personal platform, “Page Ahead.”
Rotary International
Barry Stephenson
Donating to Rotary International is my preferred way to support international missions. R.I. focuses efforts in six areas: promoting peace, preventing diseases, providing access to clean water and sanitation, enhancing maternal and child health, improving basic education and literacy, and helping communities develop. All this is in addition to a dedication to ending polio in our lifetimes. Volunteers in Rotary find the problem, identify the cause, and implement the solution. The system works so well because of the worldwide distribution of Rotarians.
Solutions are implemented with the help of Rotarians from local clubs. Nearly 90% of money donated to R.I. is used to directly fund project expenses. Working with fellow Rotarians on projects outside the United States gives me confidence that money is being applied directly to the solution of problems in a responsible way.
Learn more about Rotary International at www.rotary.org or visit a local Rotary Club.
15th Annual VITA Volunteer
Jack Hall
This holiday season Jack Hall, Senior Technical Consultant at McLinc, will start training for his 15Th year as a VITA Volunteer. VITA is part of the IRS that helps the elderly and lower income families with electronic filling of their Income Tax. Jack says, “it takes a lot of weekend time but it is well worth the effort to see the surprise and joy expressed by a low income family receiving under the IRS earned income credit up to a $5000 refund ( about 50% of their total income for the year). Then hear the child say “Mom can we now buy a television”.
The Water Angels
Michele Sanders
This Christmas season Michele Sanders, Laboratory Manager at McLinc, will be contributing to “Shoes for the Soul” by The Water Angels ministry in Knoxville. The Water Angels began as a Girl Scout mission project to provide bottled water to the homeless. Now this project has transformed into a ministry that says is open to all who are “hurting, lost, and broken.” Michele’s donation will be work boots to help the homeless “get back on their feet” and to help provide them with the material they need to obtain a good job. If you would like to know more about The Water Angels and how you can get involved you can visit their website at http://thewaterangels.com.