Approximately 140,000 pounds of food – the weight of six school buses – was donated to the Alabama Food Bank Association through last year’s Alabama Legal Food Frenzy. This year, Beasley Allen and more than 50 other law firms from around the state are competing against each other to continue to provide food for families served by the association’s eight regional food banks.
“The food and funds raised during this competition provided the equivalent of almost 120,000 meals over the summer months,” Laura Lester, executive director of the Alabama Food Bank Association, said. “It was incredibly meaningful to see the impact the legal community had on fighting hunger in Alabama.”
This is the second year the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, the Alabama State Bar, and the Alabama Food Bank Association will join together to help end child hunger through the Alabama Legal Food Frenzy, which runs through May 5. During this time, firms across Alabama, competing in size-based categories, will collect food from employees and their communities to be distributed by their local food banks.
Food collected from firms in the River Region will support the Montgomery Area Food Bank, which supports 35 of Alabama’s 67 counties and an estimated 375,000 Alabamians in need.
“Our Heart of Alabama network has an extended reach to more than 800 local community agencies, but we continue to grow because there are still more neighbors we need to be able to help,” said Richard A. Deem, chief executive officer of the Montgomery Area Food Bank. Summer is traditionally a slow time for food donations, Deem explained, though the need actually increases when school ends and thousands of children lose access to meals. Only an estimated 10 percent of children who receive free or reduced-price lunches during the school year have access to summer meal programs.
“During these months, we have an interactive map of the locations of this year’s Summer Youth Feeding programs on our Web site,” Deem said. “We have several outreach programs designed to target families, seniors, and, of course, children. In fact, we have a new pilot program called Feeding Our Remarkable Kids (FORK). FORK supports the adoption of a local school by one of our agencies, which in turn provides help to students and families needing a little more than the school’s breakfast and lunch program can provide.”
The Legal Food Frenzy provides firms not only with the opportunity for bragging rights but, more importantly, with the chance to provide meals for children who would otherwise struggle to keep their tummies full.
The Legal Food Frenzy will be held April 24-May 5, 2017. To donate to Alabama Food Bank Association through Beasley Allen, contact our Media & Press Team. For more information on helping end childhood hunger in the River Region, visit montgomeryareafoodbank.org.
