Attorneys Against Hunger receives national award
By Tracy Carbasho
For The Lawyers Journal
Sept. 1, 2006—The Allegheny County Bar Foundation was honored recently with a prestigious national award that places the Attorneys Against Hunger program on a pedestal as an exemplary effort for others to follow.
“Since hunger relief, unfortunately, is an issue all over the country and this program has developed an effective framework for a campaign of this nature, it is a good candidate for replication elsewhere,” said Bob Glaves, president of the National Conference of Bar Foundations.
The ACBF received the NCBF’s Award for Bar Foundation Excellence in Public Service Programming on Aug. 4 during a presentation ceremony at the NCBF’s annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Glaves presented the plaque to Mark Edwards, director of administration and development for the ACBF, and Allegheny County Bar Association Executive Director David A. Blaner.
“The program was selected for the award because it is a great example of how bar foundations can be effective vehicles for other community service initiatives in addition to pursuing core missions of law-related charity and philanthropy,” said Glaves, who also serves as executive director of the Chicago Bar Foundation.
Following the award presentation, Edwards gave an overview of the AAH program to bar foundation representatives from throughout the United States. An abundance of interest was expressed, and Edwards provided his contact information in case any of the foundation officials need additional input as they start similar campaigns to help those in need.
“This award would not have been possible without the pioneering efforts of Amy Greer and Ken Steinberg who started the program in 1993 or the continuing leadership of Bryan Neft and Mary McGinley who developed an innovative, successful program that can be duplicated,” said Edwards. “The overwhelming success of the program is also the result of the generous support from members of the bar association; LexisNexis for underwriting the campaigns; and the challenge grants issued each year by Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, the Rita M. McGinley Foundation and the McGinley family members.”
Greer and Steinberg will be honored for creating the AAH program during the ACBF’s annual Fellows dinner on Monday, Sept. 25, at the LeMont. Neft and McGinley are campaign co-chairs.
“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.”
She stressed that the most important reward anyone can gain from helping this particular program is knowing that their time and money makes a difference in the lives of children, the elderly, disabled individuals, and others who otherwise would be struggling in the fight against hunger.
“This program should be duplicated if for no other reason than to educate people about the issue of hunger in their communities,” added Greer. “People should know how many children are hungry, they should know what food insecurity means, and they should know what the face of hunger looks like close to home. This seemingly insular knowledge opens a whole new world of thinking.”
The AAH program is especially important to Allegheny County, where statistics show that more than 28,500 households rely on hunger service agencies each month to meet their basic need for food. Most of the households include children.
Steinberg said the NCBF award demonstrates that attorneys are here to “repair the world” by helping charitable organizations throughout the country rather than just making money for themselves. It also shows that associations like the ACBA, with the vision of its former and current leaders, can make a big difference in people’s lives by combining resources on several levels.
“Even small contributions from individual members, when aggregated, can have far-reaching results,” Steinberg said. “I am extremely grateful that so many people have been able to benefit by the work that has been done by our ACBA members and staff and by everyone’s financial contributions.”
Total contributions provided to the AAH campaign since the grassroots effort got under way have topped $500,000. 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.
“The award from the NCBF is recognition that what we do has an impact,” said Neft, who has chaired the program since 2001. “This is an easy program because it’s not a campaign that squeezes every dime out of people. I’m indebted to Amy Greer and Ken Steinberg for giving the program its foundation. To the members of the ACBA who support the campaign, I want to say thank you and keep up the good work.”
McGinley said she is impressed with the generosity of the ACBA members each year. “The fight against hunger is a cause that ignites individuals. The interest in the cause is already there, but the challenge is getting the message out about how individuals can support that cause,” said McGinley. “The NCBF award is a tribute to the growth and success of the program.”
The award is given annually to a foundation that demonstrates excellence and impact in either its programs or grant-making awards to the community. Criteria for selection include innovativeness and creativeness of the idea, efficiency in execution, outcomes of the project or grant, the ability to be duplicated by other bar foundations, and the ability to be flexible enough to change course as emerging needs arise.
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.
Blaner pointed out on the nomination form he submitted to the NCBF that the program earned the “Together We Can” Award from the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force in 2004. The food pantry of the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force is a recipient of the AAH funds.
The program also received the “Seeds” of Justice Award from Just Harvest, another recipient agency, in 2005.
Proceeds from the 2005 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 Downtown churches, including St. Mary of Mercy, Trinity Cathedral, First Presbyterian, Smithfield United and First Lutheran.
“Over the course of the last 13 years, I have seen the campaign evolve from a concept developed by two attorneys, raising $25,000 in its first year, to an annual campaign reaching the full membership of the bar association and raising over $96,000 in 2005,” said Blaner. “I have heard firsthand from community leaders about how the program has had a positive impact in the Western Pennsylvania community and have witnessed how our members have embraced the campaign.”