Lawyers help fight food insecurity with Alabama Legal Food Frenzy

WAFF 48's Claudia Peppenhorst reporting
Published: May. 24, 2023 at 5:31 PM CDT
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Lawyers across the state are helping fight food insecurity by providing more than 350,000 meals to families through its Food Frenzy fundraiser.

Law firms and legal organizations raised more than $71,000 through the two-week Alabama Legal Food Frenzy fundraiser. The hope is to help fight hunger for children who can not rely on school meals during the summer months. Melissa Warnke with the Alabama State Bar said food insecurity can impact every aspect of a child’s life.

“It impacts the whole child, it impacts how well they do in school, their confidence, and their success later in life,” Warnke said. “I think all of our participating attorneys who have been involved in this know that when they’re giving back they’re not only putting food on tables but they’re impacting the future of children in our state.”

In Huntsville, Martin and Helms won the small firm competition with $2,800 raised which equals 14,000 meals donated to the Food Bank of North Alabama. Owners of the firm Clay Martin and Tara Helms said they are grateful to make an impact on the community.

“Small firm but big heart,” Helms said. “As attorneys, ultimately we’re all advocates for our clients but then we’re also advocates of the community.”

CEO of Food Bank of North Alabama Shirley Schofield said the Legal Food Frenzy has helped thousands of families and she hopes people realize just how far a dollar can go to put a meal on the table.

“For every dollar that’s raised, we can convert that into seven meals so you can do that math and see that that is going to be a really important fund for us and we can tap into it this summer when we really need it the most,” Schofield.

This is the 8th year of the fundraiser and Warnke said that this year’s total was the largest in fundraising history.

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