MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

SRIC: Looking to Our Future

Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) was founded in 1971, emphasizing scientific, journalistic and legal expertise on environmental and natural resources issues. From work in the early 1970s on electric power generation in the Four Corners area, to the uranium boom in the Grants Mineral Belt, to nuclear waste disposal, to water contamination in Albuquerque’s South Valley, we have focussed on issues that affect the health of communities. We’ve also assisted in the creation of several nonprofits in New Mexico, including Albuquerque’s San Jose Community Awareness Council, Santa Fe’s Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and Crownpoint’s Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining. We are also part of numerous state, regional, and national coalitions that assist communities on issues affecting their health and the environment. But we couldn’t do all of these things without the essential help of our friends.

As we look at our past, we see all of the friendships we’ve made. It is because of these friendships that SRIC has become one of the groups to rely on – for community assistance, for our technical knowledge, and our desire to work together for the betterment of the whole. This work has not been easy, but it has resulted in major accomplishments because of the dedicated work of the staff who, combined, have been working on these environmental justice issues at SRIC for more than 120 years, with additional decades of work before joining this organization.

But as we look to the future, we see the need to change and grow to meet continuing and new challenges. We want SRIC to continue to support and mentor the next generation of people to work on the issues of environmental health and justice in our communities. To do so, we want to expand our staff to include younger people who will continue the work for decades, after some of our most “veteran” staffers retire.

SRIC staff have worked on a variety of issues through the years – water pollution, mining waste, uranium, radiation, nuclear waste, air pollution, coal mining, oil and gas development, land use, electric transmission lines, and how each of these issues affects human health and our environment. Communities continue to ask for our help, and, with continuing growth in the West and the impacts of Global Warming, much of our work has national and international implications. For example, our uranium-related health research will have implications for the cleanup of abandoned and current uranium mine and mill sites worldwide, and on the standards for drinking water in this country.

We also must improve our infrastructure. We frequently find ourselves behind the technological eight ball, and must strive to catch up. To do this, we are asking you, our friends, for your help. In-kind donations of technology – computers with the Windows XP or Vista operating system, laptops, etc. – would go far toward upgrading our older computer systems, most of which were donated several years ago. To expand our work, we need to be more technologically minded.

Making financial (tax-deductible) donations are always appreciated, and could go far toward helping us move into the future. If a yearly donation seems out of reach, how about a small monthly donation? For example, a donation of $10 a month provides SRIC with $120 a year. As an example, this would help pay the travel expenses of staff to do groundwater sampling, air monitoring tests, or in-home health surveys on the Navajo Nation. A donation of $25 (or more) a month can pay for much of the expenses of holding a meeting to discuss the results of these tests and surveys with the affected communities.

Beyond financial donations, you can also make donations of stocks/bonds. You could even put us in your will and/or trust documents. All of these things can assist us in the planning of our future and providing necessary support to ensure that future.

For federal government workers in New Mexico, you too can assist us as we move to the future. You can make financial donations through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). You can make a donation either in a lump sum or a bi-weekly (or monthly) payroll deduction. We, along with many other nonprofits, have a new organization number this year: 90169. Please remember us as you consider making CFC contributions this season.

We are not only asking our friends to help with our financial future. Our Board of Directors is looking at our future as well. The board members feel that our work will still be needed in the future, and believe in this so strongly that many are donors to our work, in addition to their efforts to help with other fundraising activities. They understand that they too must not only be the guides and guardians of our work, but financial supporters as well. And this belief in our work is not just limited to our Board and friends. Staff members support the work also, through both in-kind and financial donations. Our commitment goes beyond just the work of the organization, but extends to the people we serve now and in the future.

To those of you who currently support our work, THANK YOU. To those who have provided support in the past, please renew your commitment. For those who have never supported our work, we ask that you consider how you can provide support for our future work.