More than 3,000 underprivileged children will receive presents through the Christmas Gifts for Children (CGFG) program in 2018 thanks to volunteers, fundraisers and generous donations. Employees from Fluor-BWXT and other companies at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Portsmouth site in Pike County have been actively involved with the program for more than a quarter of a century - providing approximately $3 million in Christmas gifts to nearly 80,000 children during that time.
The number of children on the list continues to grow each year. “There are so many low or no income families in this community and without the generosity of everyone involved in this program, the children in these families would receive few, if any, Christmas presents,” said Gary Crandall, Fluor-BWXT (FBP) Systems Engineer and President of the CGFC organization.
“This year, more than $120,000 in warm clothing, coats, shoes, bicycles and toys will be delivered to these families, just in time for the children’s Christmas.”Throughout the year, volunteers help with fundraisers. Then, in November, they distribute tags with children’s names and their Christmas wish lists and track the receipt of gifts. They also shop and wrap gifts for any of the unclaimed Christmas tags.
“We have approximately 300 volunteers who coordinate the effort to make Christmas memorable for kids in our communities. Employees from Fluor-BWXT as well as other companies here at the Portsmouth site such as Centrus, Mid-America Conversion Services, Restoration Services, Inc., Wastren Advantage Inc., Veolia Nuclear Solutions, Portsmouth Mission Alliance, Innovative Solutions and DOE are all involved,” said Bob Smith, Fluor-BWXT Site Project Director. “In addition to significant donations from personnel across the site, the program received a $34,000 boost from 40 local businesses and organizations to purchase gifts for unsponsored children. This is an exciting time for us and for our communities and we are grateful to those who have helped make this program a success.”“
"This year, over $11,000 from FBP’s Community Commitment Fund went to help the Christmas Gifts for Children program. Many of the kids in our area go without basic necessities (i.e. coats, gloves, hats), let alone Christmas gifts,” said Tim Poe, FBP Nuclear Operations Director and Chairman of the Steering Committee. “This program helps many needy families in communities where our employees live.”
The program includes children from Greenup County (Kentucky) and Adams, Jackson, Pike, Ross, and Scioto counties in Ohio.