Community Service Suggestion: Paralegal Association Food Drives

Americans are losing their jobs at record rates and more families have empty pantries. Food banks across the country are reporting bare shelves which cannot meet the needs of their rapidly increasing clientele.

Soup kitchens, which provide hot meals, and food pantries, which offer groceries mostly to families, are the backbone of the current nonprofit food system. Most are in the hearts of cities and rely primarily on individual donations of food or bulk supplies from large food banks. They also need money for overhead, all of which leaves them vulnerable during economic downturns such as the current one, nonprofit leaders say.

See “Activists seek new ways to get food to 35 million” at MSNBC.com.

The North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) is hosting a networking luncheon for its Legal Assistant Division members in February 2009. NCAJ is providing lunch, so as an additional community service project, attendees are invited to contribute to the local food bank by bringing a non-perishable food item. (Even my church is having a “Souper Bowl Sunday” food drive at its service next week.)

Any food pantry can use donations, no matter how small. If your professional or student association is planning a seminar, luncheon or get-together soon, please consider having a simultaneous food drive for your local food bank.