As the two-week “frenzy” of collecting donations and counting cans came to a close on April 11, we now have time to reflect on our 8th year of participating in this amazing competition. Lawyers and law firms do love to compete. The Legal Food Frenzy is a great opportunity for Virginia lawyers to challenge each other outside the courtroom while pursuing the critical goal of reducing hunger in Virginia. With more than 912,790 people in Virginia not knowing where their next meal will come from, the need is enormous. The food bank provides reliable and nutritious food to children who need adequate nutrition to succeed in school, to seniors on a limited budget and to families challenged by economic circumstances. So the real question becomes, how much can we raise? Each person, each branch, our firm, Richmond lawyers, and all lawyers across the Commonwealth?
This year we began on March 31 with the lofty goal of Allen, Allen, Allen and Allen raising 42,000 pounds, expanding our goal from last year by 5,000 pounds. Each of our eight branches (Richmond, Charlottesville, Petersburg, Chesterfield, Short Pump, Mechanicsville, Fredericksburg and Garrisonville) had their own goal. When the clock struck midnight on April 11, we brought our campaign to a close having exceeded our goal. Amongst 8 offices, many phone calls, and lots of transporting of cans, Allen & Allen raised a grand total of 45,036 pounds of food. We are proud to say we had 100% participation from the attorneys and management, and very high participation from our staff. Several of our offices also had 100% participation.
Thank you to everyone at Allen and Allen for your amazing support of this worthy project and for stepping up to help our communities in a meaningful way. The practice of law and our work here at the Allen Law Firm gives us the privilege of helping and serving others every day. What better way to expand on this service than by participating in the 2014 Legal Food Frenzy.
Thank you to Attorney General Mark Herring, the Young Lawyers Division of The Virginia Bar Association, and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks for sponsoring the Food Frenzy again this year. We look forward to seeing what number will be added this year to the 10 million pounds raised by the program in the past seven years!
About the Author: Courtney Allen Van Winkle is a partner and personal injury attorney in Richmond with Allen & Allen. With a career spanning over 20 years, Courtney has handled personal injury cases involving catastrophic injury, brain injury and even wrongful death in Richmond, VA and across the state.