ACBF gears up for 2006 Attorneys Against Hunger campaign
By Tracy Carbasho
For The Lawyers Journal
Oct. 27, 2006—The Allegheny County Bar Foundation’s nationally recognized Attorneys Against Hunger program is gearing up for another successful campaign.
The 2005 campaign surpassed its goal of $78,000 by raising nearly $97,000, making it a landmark year when more money was raised than in any other annual effort. Campaign co-chairs Bryan Neft and Mary McGinley hope to see the success of the program continue with the 2006 campaign.
“To those who have not contributed in the past, this year is another opportunity,” said McGinley, an associate at Meyer Unkovic & Scott. “We would like to thank all of those who have contributed in the past. The donations have certainly made an impact. We have received many warm notes of thanks from area hunger agencies.”
Proceeds from the last campaign were distributed to the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, Rainbow Kitchen, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Hunger Services Urban League of Pittsburgh, Jubilee Kitchen, Just Harvest, Kosher Super Pantry and the Downtown Ministerium Walk-In Ministry, which is a consortium of five churches, including St. Mary of Mercy, Trinity Cathedral, First Presbyterian, Smithfield United, and First Lutheran.
“We do not expect any major changes with respect to the campaign this year,” said McGinley. “It will continue to be a grassroots effort that will focus on the hunger needs of our community.”
Neft said the members of the Allegheny County Bar Association have always been unbelievably supportive of the AAH program by stepping up to the plate with donations and volunteering their time at food service agencies.
ACBA Executive Director David A. Blaner said the association is fortunate to have such giving members. Total contributions provided to the program since it got under way in 1993 have topped $500,000.
“The association is cognizant of trying to limit its charitable efforts because there is always a concern that the well will run dry,” said Blaner. “The continuous giving of the members says a lot about how they feel about our organization and the important causes we support. The members are very philanthropic, but we’re aware that there are limited dollars out there.”
The news about the importance of the AAH program has traveled far beyond Pittsburgh. Now, the program is viewed as a model for other bar foundations to duplicate. The ACBF received the Award for Bar Foundation Excellence in Public Service Programming from the National Conference of Bar Foundations in August.
The NCBF award was presented to Blaner and Mark Edwards, director of administration and development for the ACBF, in August during a ceremony in Hawaii. The award is given annually to a foundation that demonstrates excellence and impact in either its programs or grant-making awards to the community. The accomplishments of the program must be recognized as being successful and established for a sufficient length of time in order to be recognized for use as a prototype.
Edwards said the award would not have been possible without the pioneering efforts of Amy Greer and Ken Steinberg, who started the program 13 years ago, and the continuing work of Neft and McGinley.
Greer and Steinberg were honored for creating the AAH program during the ACBF’s annual Fellows dinner at LeMont in September.
“We started AAH by asking a lot of people to give a little because we knew that those little donations combined could actually make a difference and that difference would serve as an incentive for further participation,” said Greer. “This award and the accomplishments of AAH should offer the most meaningful type of encouragement for those who want to make a difference but hesitate at the prospect of starting small.”
The AAH program is essential in Allegheny County, especially since statistics show that more than 28,500 households rely on hunger service agencies each month to meet their basic need for food and most of those households include children.
“Even small contributions from individual members can have far-reaching results,” said Steinberg.
The success of the AAH program is also attributed to LexisNexis for underwriting the campaign, and the challenge grants issued each year by Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, the Rita M. McGinley Foundation, and the McGinley family members.
The 2005 challenge grant called for the ACBA to raise $45,000 to support the AAH campaign and since the goal was met, the ACBF received a $15,000 grant.
“We enjoy being involved because members of the bar rise to the challenge and make contributions that benefit those in our communities who are most in need,” said McGinley. “We intend to pledge a challenge grant again for this year’s campaign, but we have not yet decided how much we will challenge the ACBA to raise.”