The Los Angeles legal community raised more than $475,000 for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank the year during the 9th Annual Food From The Bar Campaign. The Food Bank will use these funds to provide more than 1.9 million meals for children in Los Angeles County this summer. Since the campaign began in Los Angeles in 2009, it has raised over $3.6 million.
Food From The Bar, an annual, month-long fundraising and volunteering effort, held May 1 to June 2 in 2017, saw 77 legal organizations, including legal firms, law schools and legal services organizations, participate in friendly competition to see who could raise the most funds, acquire the most food, and work the most volunteer hours for the Food Bank. In addition to the funds raised, more than 9,000 pounds of food were collected and 774 volunteer shifts were completed in an effort to feed those in Los Angeles who are food insecure.
This year the overall winner was Latham & Watkins LLP. Jackie Levien, Associate and 2017 Food From The Bar Campaign coordinator for Latham & Watkins commented, “Latham & Watkins is tremendously proud of its longstanding commitment to the LA Regional Food Bank, and is honored to have won this year’s Food From The Bar Campaign. As a firm, we are cognizant of the problem of hunger in the Los Angeles community, and appreciate the opportunity to work together to tackle it.”
“We are extremely grateful to the legal community for this annual campaign to support the Food Bank,” said Michael Flood, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “Donations and public support swell during the holidays but the need to feed people is year round. This campaign provides a timely infusion of volunteer energy and generous financial support at the beginning of summer when children do not have access to school meal programs. With the continued support from members of the Los Angeles legal community, we are able to continue to fight hunger and give hope.”
Robby Mockler of McKool Smith Hennigan, P.C was the Chairman of this year’s Campaign Committee. He has been involved with the Food Bank since the first campaign in Los Angeles “Feeding hungry people is as basic as its gets, and it is the right thing to do. The impact of a contribution is incredible. You can feed a family for a small amount of money.”
One in seven residents of Los Angeles County, 1.4 million people, live with food insecurity and have limited access to food, disrupted eating patterns, and reduced food intake. The Food Bank, through direct distribution and its agency partners, serves the largest county in terms of population in the country.
This year, 77 legal firms and organizations competed in various categories, with several being honored with awards from the Food Bank for their efforts.