Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
Dozens of law firms, legal departments, government offices, and law schools joined together to raise more than 1.5 million pounds of food for Virginia’s hungry during the seventh annual Legal Food Frenzy in Virginia.
The results of the two-week drive in April brought the cumulative seven-year total raised to the equivalent of more than 10 million pounds of food for Virginia’s food banks, surpassing this year’s goal. The total raised since the inception of the Frenzy is 10,017,511 pounds.
The Frenzy is a statewide competition and collaboration between the attorney general’s office, the Virginia Bar Association, and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks.
“Virginia’s food banks supply food to charities every day to feed the hungry, especially children and the elderly,” said Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. “Many of the charities that food banks supply don’t just give food away. They try to help people learn new job skills, find jobs, and break the chains of poverty that hold them down.”
“We continue to see staggering numbers of individuals in need of food assistance,” said Leslie Van Horn, executive director for the Federation of Virginia Food Banks. “This food and funding comes at an extremely critical time for all seven food banks throughout the state,” she said.
For the third year in a row, the firm of B. Cullen Gibson from Norfolk took overall first place by raising 17,550 pounds per employee, and as a result, won the Attorney General’s Cup.
In addition to thanking the food drive coordinators and representatives across the state, Cuccinelli offered special thanks to Leslie Van Horn and the Virginia Bar Association’s Food Frenzy co-chairs, Chris Gill of Christian & Barton; Derek Swanson of McGuire Woods, LLP; Virginia Robinson of DynCorp International, LLC; and Lauren Wheeling of Williams Mullen for organizing the campaign. The attorney general also thanked the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association for serving as the campaign model more than 22 years ago in the Hampton Roads area and allowing the legal community to use their model throughout the state.
The winners of the 7th Annual Statewide “Legal Food Frenzy”
Attorney General’s Cup Winner: Per Capita: B. Cullen Gibson (Norfolk) – 17,550 pounds per person
Small (1-20) Law Firm: Total Pounds: “The Brunswick Stew Award” – Murphy & McGonigle, P.C. (Richmond) – 30,036 pounds
Small (1-20) Law Firm: Per Capita: “The Shenandoah Apple Award” – Amy G. Pesesky PLC (Norfolk) – 3,125 pounds per person
Medium (21-100) Law Firm Total Pounds: “The James River Shad Award” – Christian & Barton LLP (Richmond) – 65,743 pounds
Medium (21-100) Law Firm Per Capita: “The Hanover Tomato Award” – McKenry, Dancigers, Dawson & Lake P.C. (Virginia Beach) – 1,371 pounds per person
Large (101 and up) Law Firm Total Pounds: “The Smithfield Ham Award” – McGuireWoods LLP (all locations) – 161,413 pounds
Large (101 and up) Law Firm Per Capita: “The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Award” – Kaufman & Canoles (all locations) – 496 pounds per person
Sole Proprietor (1-2) Law Firm Total Pounds: “The Virginia Peanut Award” – ReavesColey PLLC (Chesapeake) – 3,569 pounds
Law School Winner of Attorney General’s Cup Total Pounds and Per Capita: University of Richmond School of Law (Richmond) – 18,199 pounds, 40 pounds per person
Government and Public Service Total Pounds: “The Urbanna Oyster Award” – Office of the Attorney General (Richmond) – 96,680 pounds
Government and Public Service Per Capita: “The Old Dominion Soybean Award” – Prince William County Attorney’s Office – 1,644 pounds per person
Legal Department Per Capita: “The Virginia Strawberry Award” – Norfolk Southern Corporation Legal Department (Norfolk) – 844 pounds per person
*Note: Pounds of food listed above are counted by both food and cash donations. Cash donations are converted to the number of pounds of food they will provide.
