Jul. 20, 2013

Lawyers step up to combat hunger

Dozens of members of the Bay Area legal community gathered at One Market restaurant in San Francisco Tuesday for the annual Food from the Bar awards reception honoring law fi rms and legal departments that raised money, donated time and collected pounds of food for the 2013 campaign. Altogether, participants raised $594,034 for the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks, exceeding the ambitious goal of $580,000 set by organizers. Participants collected 6,721 pounds of food and donated 902 volunteer shifts to the effort as well. After munching on hor d'oeuvres and sipping wine, attendees heard remarks about the campaign and its successes from Shari Freedman, a member of the food banks' board of directors, and Paul Ash, executive director of the food banks. Other board members — Kim Coates, San Francisco offi ce administrator of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP partner Christine Richardson — announced the results and some of the awards. Bar Association of San Francisco Executive Director Daniel Burkhardt presented the awards for the top contributors per capita. PG&E Corp. General Counsel Hyun Park gave concluding remarks, noting that for some of the children, receiving a meal from the food banks through their schools would be the only food they would receive that day. Per capita, Rutan & Tucker LLP and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP received the grand prizes for contributions in Marin County and San Francisco County, respectively. First, second and third place awards per capita went to the Fremont Group, Kaufhold Gaskin LLP and PG&E Corp. The Fremont Group was the top overall fundraiser, while Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP collected the most pounds of food. PG&E Corp. donated the most volunteer hours. Hanson Bridgett LLP won recognition for the most creative campaign, which it tied to a partner sumo-wrestling event. The top small fi rm contributor was Kaufhold Gaskin LLP. — Jill Patton