LLNS Reveals 2024 Community Gift Program Recipients

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), the contract manager for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has announced the recipients for the 2024 LLNS Community Gift Program. These gifts, totaling $220,000, reflect LLNS's commitment to local communities.

LLNS received applications totaling more than $950,000 in requests. Forty-four applications were selected for awards totaling $220,000 through a committee review process. The program, which launched in 2008, serves children in the Tri-Valley area as well as Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Joaquin counties, with a focus on literacy, science, technology, engineering and math education, and cultural arts.

The following organizations received awards:

• Alameda County Foster Parent Association, Chapter 1: To cultivate a passion for STEAM education among foster children.
• American Association of Physics Teachers, Northern CA: To provide support and mentoring to new physics teachers in Northern California.
• Bay Area Rescue Mission: To provide women and children experiencing homelessness with essential supplies, including educational materials.
• California High School - Photography Program: To provide a unique hands-on learning experience that explores the relationship between analog photography, physics and chemistry through a comprehensive year-long darkroom photography program.
• California High School - Robotics Program: To inspire and engage students in computer science by offering physical computing projects that allow students to choose their creations, fostering joy and passion for the subject.
• Castro Valley High School - The Wallace Dynasty Robotics Team: To revitalize the robotics program with new components to improve the overall learning experience.
• Children Rising: To teach foundational mathematical concepts to enhance critical thinking, problem-solving abilities and analytical reasoning, thereby establishing a strong cognitive foundation through a math tutoring program.
• Children's Museum of Stockton: To obtain a hands-on, STEM-related exhibit to deliver an exciting and innovative interactive learning experience.
• Choose College Educational Inc.: To empower students to shape their futures by preparing them for college through the encouragement of a sense of purpose, the development of effective study skills and the cultivation of independent learning.
• Curious Five: To provide students K-12 with a positive and supportive STEM learning experience that will inspire them to pursue future STEM careers.
• Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area: To empower, inspire and support individuals with Down Syndrome, their families, and the community that serves them, while fostering awareness and acceptance in all areas of life by providing educational programs.
• Dublin High School Parent Faculty Student Organization - Gael Force Robotics: To inspire the next generation and underrepresented communities to explore STEM through an innovative robotics program.
• East Bay Holocaust Education Center: To engage the community in rare historical artifacts and their related music, imparting lessons of social injustice, hope, resilience and survival through compelling storytelling.
• East Bay NSBE Jr. Chapter, LLC: To provide hands-on STEM and robotics programs to under-represented, underserved students in grades 3-12.
• Engineers Alliance for the Arts, Inc.: To inspire and educate students about the interaction of art, architecture, engineering, and construction using a STEAM curriculum combining technical and artistic components.
• Excelsior Middle School, Byron: To integrate science and technology into classrooms.
• Gardens at Heather Farms: To provide elementary classrooms with access to high-quality science instruction.
• Girls Incorporated of Alameda County: To support girls' engagement in STEM while addressing the unique racial, gender and socio-economic challenges they encounter in their pursuit of STEM fields.
• Jefferson School District, Jefferson School: To expand a drone building program, which will provide students with the opportunity to engage in engineering and programming projects.
• José M. Hernández Reaching for the Stars Foundation: To inspire youth to find passion in STEM education through the Science Blast Program.
• King's Classical Academy: To expand the robotics program for the upcoming academic year as part of their increasing focus on STEAM education.
• Livermore High School - GravitechX Robotics Team: To support a student-led robotics program where students learn leadership, teamwork and technical skills to prepare them for STEM careers.
• Livermore High School - Metal Shop: To train students to become future machinists and engineers.
• Livermore Music: To provide musical instruments, mentorship in music and logistical support to all students seeking a music education.
• Marylin Avenue STEAM Academy, Livermore: To enhance the STEAM program by offering a greater variety of enrichment activities.
• Merrill F. West High School, Tracy: To enhance science education by implementing 3D printing to create educational manipulatives, introducing material science labs in chemistry classes, and expanding support for the school's robotics club, which will foster hands-on, interdisciplinary learning that engages students in STEM education and prepares them for future academic and career opportunities.
• New Heart Community Church of the Nazarene: To expand our services to address the increasing demand for tutoring among families who cannot afford additional educational resources beyond public schooling.
• NextGen Innovators: To provide students with the opportunity to explore the field of engineering through hands-on experiences.
• Oakland Children's Fairyland, Inc.: To support the Fairyland Flora & Fauna education program, which provides access to hands-on life science programming for K-5 students from under-resourced schools in a safe, creative and outdoor space that engages students of all learning orientations.
• Piedmont Makers, Castro Valley: To offer high school students access to engineering through competitive robotics in an innovative, engaging and collaborative environment.
• Regional Parks Foundation: To provide students with the opportunity to develop knowledge, awareness and respect for their environment, community and themselves, fostering lifelong learners and responsible global stewards.
• Ripon Elementary School: To expose students to a broader world they have yet to explore by enhancing their school's curriculum with a comprehensive science program.
• San Ramon Valley High School - Robotics Team 1280: Expand science learning opportunities designed to build exploration skills and knowledge through awareness of the innovative science and technology and organizations in our region.
• Science is Elementary: To foster interest in science and a sense of belonging among young children, especially from historically disadvantaged communities, by bringing science learning into homes and communities, addressing the lack of high-quality science education and diversity represented in the field of STEM.
• Shepherd's Gate: To enhance early childhood learning that will incorporate educational, tactile tools specifically designed for children with autism to effectively meet the special education needs of the children in our program.
• Stockton Unified School District: To implement a curriculum focused on coding and micro:bit utilization that enhances problem-solving skills and logical thinking, fosters solution development, and builds a strong foundation for future learning, ultimately preparing students for successful careers.
• Stoneman Elementary School, Pittsburg: To cultivate positive and rigorous classroom environments that actively engage students in academic pursuits, leading to high levels of achievement.
• System Overload Robotics: To create a learning environment that nurtures high school students' growth and encourages the development of new and creative concepts through engineering competition-level robotics.
• Tower Foundation of San Jose State University, Science Extravaganza: To generate interest in STEAM fields among younger students while reinforcing the value of higher education through activities, such as the Science Extravaganza.
• Tri-Valley Robotics: To encourage and inspire elementary, middle and high school students to participate in, engage with and excel in the field of robotics, equipping them for future success.
• Valley Montessori School: To provide a robust and empowering Montessori education for children aged 18 months to grade 8.
• Wayfinder Family Services: To provide an early intervention program to assist children who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled to overcome challenges, strengthen their development and reach their greatest potential.
• Youth Eagles Aviation and Aerospace: To inspire the next generation of aviation, aerospace leaders and STEM innovators through hands-on, unique and educational experiences.
• Z-Cares Foundation: To generate mental health awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness within our community.

LLNS manages LLNL for the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. LLNS is comprised of Bechtel, the largest project management contractor in the United States; the University of California, the world's largest public research institution; and BWXT Government Group, Inc. and Amentum, the top two DOE nuclear facilities contractors.