SRS carries on with providing service to area

SRNS employees Paivi Nettamo, left, and George Wisner construct a display case at North Augusta's Salvation Army thrift store for the Project Serve program, sponsored by the United Way of the CSRA. Staff photo by Rob Novit

In early spring each year, scores of Savannah River Site employees volunteer for the United Way of Aiken County's Project Vision - providing repair and renovation work at social service agencies.

But SRS staffers from Savannah River Nuclear Solutions and Savannah River Remediation also took part Friday in Project Care for United Way of the CSRA in Augusta and Project Serve for the Barnwell United Way.

A group of SRNS staffers with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) project spent Friday morning at the Salvation Army thrift shop in North Augusta. They cleaned up lawn areas on the facility property, repaired a door and constructed some display cases for the shop.

"The Site is a big supporter of the United Way in general," said SRNS executive Paul Hunt. "It's good for our team to have team-building opportunities and fun to come together outside of work."

Amy Meyer, the project leader, enjoyed her first Project Service event.

"It's a good service and is making the place look so much better," she said. "They're really appreciative. Several customers have come in and said we were doing a good job. We had a meeting earlier this week and a couple of people asked if they could bring items to donate. We said sure."

SRR President and Project Manager Dave Olson worked side by side with dozens of co-workers in Augusta and Barnwell at such sites as the Gail Reyes Generations Unlimited Senior Center in Barnwell and the Augusta Girl Scout Camp.

Volunteers built bookshelves, sorted clothes for low-income families and tornado victims, cleared yard debris, fixed steps and painted.