AG Coakley Kicks Off 3rd Annual Food Drive Competition in the Legal Community at the Greater Boston Food Bank
Competition Has Raised More Than 727,000 Pounds of Food, Provided More Than 470,000 Meals
BOSTON – In an effort to raise awareness and fight hunger in Massachusetts, Attorney General Martha Coakley kicked off the 3rd Annual “Legal Food Frenzy” at The Greater Boston Food Bank today. The “Legal Food Frenzy” is a benevolent competition within the legal community organized by the Attorney General’s Office, in partnership with numerous bar associations, which will benefit all four Massachusetts Food Banks. The competition is credited with providing more than 470,000 meals to those struggling with hunger in the Commonwealth.
The first annual Legal Food Frenzy was piloted in the Greater Boston area and has since expanded to benefit all four Massachusetts Food Banks—The Greater Boston Food Bank, Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Worcester County Food Bank, and The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. These four Food Banks serve more than 800 food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters that help feed hungry families across the Commonwealth. Over the past two years, the competition has raised more than 727,000 pounds of food (which includes its equivalent in monetary donations) and provided more than 470,000 meals throughout Massachusetts.
“The need for food and donations are not limited to the holiday season, they remain significant and constant year round,” said AG Coakley. “Contributions are typically at their lowest around this time of year and with many struggling in this economy, we hope that this statewide effort will help residents and families throughout the Commonwealth put food on the table. We have received an enthusiastic response from so many legal organizations and I am confident that we will reach our goal of collecting half a million pounds of food.”
"Everyone has a role in ending hunger in our community, and I thank the Attorney General for taking the lead in marshaling the support of the Commonwealth's legal community to help end hunger here in Massachusetts," said Catherine D'Amato, president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank. "Last year's generous participants provided a significant amount of food, and I look forward to seeing the results of this year's statewide efforts."
This year, the Attorney General’s Office has recruited nearly 50 legal organizations to date from eight counties across the state to participate in this event. Registration for legal organizations will remain open until April 2nd. The participants will collect food items and donations during the campaign period, April 2 to April 13, 2012—a traditionally slow time for food donations. The goal is to raise 500,000 pounds of food or the monetary equivalent. The legal organization that raises the most food and/or money per capita will be awarded a celebratory trophy, the Legal Food Frenzy Cup, in recognition of the legal organization’s commitment to fighting hunger. Last year, law firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. won the Legal Food Frenzy for the second time and are the current holders of the Legal Food Frenzy Cup. They collected the equivalent of, in food and funds, 730 pounds of food per capita and raised the equivalent of nearly 22,500 pounds of food overall. More than 60 law firms, law schools and legal organizations participated in the competition in 2011 and collectively raised the equivalent of 377,000 pounds of food (which includes its equivalent in monetary donations), providing an additional 290,000 meals for hungry families in Massachusetts.
All food and funds collected will go to the four Massachusetts Food Banks to benefit hungry families across the state. Many bar associations from across the Commonwealth have partnered with the Attorney General’s Office to sponsor the Legal Food Frenzy including the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Boston Bar Association, Hampden County Bar Association, Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, Franklin County Bar Association, Plymouth County Bar Association, and the Women's Bar Association. For more information, please visit the Attorney General’s Legal Food Frenzy site.
The 2010 Hunger Study released by The Greater Boston Food Bank found that the four Massachusetts Food Banks feed as many as 801,200 low-income people annually and that one in 11 people in the Commonwealth visits a food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter. The number of people using the emergency food assistance network in Massachusetts has grown by 23% since 2006, and 61% of the people served have to choose between food and rent, medicine, or heat. Food banks in Massachusetts serve 101,400 residents weekly. For more details on the Hunger Study, visit www.gbfb.org.
The following legal organizations are participating in the 2012 Legal Food Frenzy:
Alekman DiTusa, LLC
The Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts
Boston College Law School
Bowditch & Dewey, LLP - Boston Office
Bowditch & Dewey, LLP - Framingham Office
Bowditch & Dewey, LLP - Worcester Office
Cesari and McKenna, LLP
Choate, Hall & Stewart, LLP
Cooley LLP
Deutsch Williams Brooks DeRensis & Holland, P.C.
Donovan Hatem LLP
Ferriter & Ferriter Attorneys
Fletcher Tilton PC
Foley Hoag LLP
Franklin County Bar Association
Gesmer Updegrove LLP
Hampden County Bar Association
Keegan Werlin LLP
Klein Hornig LLP
Lawson & Weitzen, LLP
Lian, Zarrow
Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys
Mass. Teachers Assoc., Div. of Legal Services
Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Moses Smith & Markey, LLC
Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
New England School of Law
Northeastern University Phi Alpha Delta
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Pierce, Davis + Perritano, LLP
Plymouth County Bar Association
Posternak Blankstein & Lund
Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service
Rich May, P.C.
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP
Robinson and Cole LLP
Robinson Donovan, P.C.
Ropes & Gray LLP
Rubin and Rudman LLP
Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, P.C.
The Law Offices of Thomas M. Libbos, P.C.
Thompson & Thompson P.C.
Todd & Weld LLP
West, a Thompson Reuters Business
WilmerHale
Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.
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