Foley & Lardner Celebrates 175 Years with Volunteerism Initiative to Fight Hunger
To honor its 175th anniversary and core value of supporting the communities the firm serves, Foley & Lardner LLP celebrated its heritage with a month-long volunteerism project to help fight hunger.
“Foley Feeds Families”, the firm-wide initiative, wrapped in October with the firm surpassing its goal of providing 175,000 meals across the country through service projects. Foley also raised nearly $80,000 to donate to organizations fighting hunger. The project was chosen to honor the firm’s actual 175th anniversary on September 8 and National Hunger Awareness month.
“It has been incredibly inspiring to see the level of creativity and enthusiasm coming from our people across the country for Foley Feeds Families,” said Foley & Lardner CEO and Chairman Jay Rothman. “It was humbling to provide meals to those in need, including those affected by the recent destructive hurricanes.”
Each of Foley’s offices throughout the United States partnered with local food banks to provide meaningful service opportunities for its attorneys and staff to help fight hunger in their communities. The dozens of volunteer projects included:
- In Boston, the office’s women attorneys volunteered at historic Rosie’s Place, the country’s first women’s shelter.
- In Chicago, lawyers and staff spent two days sorting and packing canned food at The Greater Chicago Food Depository.
- In Detroit, lawyers and staff volunteered at Gleaners Community Food Bank.
- In Jacksonville, lawyers and staff volunteered at the Feeding Northeast Florida food bank.
- In Los Angeles, lawyers and staff prepared and served lunch at the Downtown Women’s Center and volunteered at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
- In Madison, lawyers and staff helped sort and label food at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin.
- In Miami, lawyers and staff volunteered at Feeding South Florida in Pembroke Park and raised $700 through a breakfast fundraiser to benefit the food bank.
- In Milwaukee, lawyers and staff conducted two food drives to benefit the Hunger Task Force.
- In New York, lawyers and staff volunteered packing food at the Food Bank for Westchester.
- In Orlando, lawyers and staff volunteered for Seniors First and for Feeding Children Everywhere.
- In San Diego, lawyers and staff volunteered for two days at the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank.
- In San Francisco, lawyers and staff volunteered for two days, including morning and evening shifts, at the SF-Marin Food Bank.
- In Silicon Valley, lawyers and staff sorted food at Second Harvest Food Bank and also donated three barrels of food.
- In Tallahassee, lawyers and staff helped sort and pack canned foods at America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.
- In Tampa, lawyers and staff sorted and packed food for victims of Hurricane Irma through Feeding Tampa Bay.
- In Washington, D.C., lawyers and staff prepared meals and sorted clothes for homeless women at Miriam’s Kitchen.
Foley attorneys and staff also participated in other volunteer efforts to fight hunger by teaming through volunteerism and donations to support other hunger-fighting organizations including Blessings in a Backpack, Stand Up for Kids, Food from the Bar, Kick Off for Kids, the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison, Feeding Children Everywhere and the United Way Snack Packs program.
“Honoring our 175th anniversary and National Hunger Awareness month through the Foley Feeds Families initiative was a meaningful and heartening example of our dedication to citizenship and the welfare of our communities,” Rothman said. “Whether our people donated their time to a local food bank or chose to engage with their community through other actions, we know that their contributions made a difference — in fact, they’ve made a powerful difference.”