Jonathan Falk (Legal Aid Society) and colleagues Franz Wright (Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC) and Bill Lowe (Harris Beach PLLC) were on a mission in November to spread the word about the Campaign for Justice to Rochester attorneys in the early years of their careers. Targeting attorneys under age 40, they engaged 20 law firms and legal organizations, getting 202 young attorneys to contribute to the campaign.
“The goal was percentage participating,” explained Falk, CFJ Co-Chair, talking about the Law Firm Challenge which ran Nov. 6-29. “And 10 of the 20 organizations had 100% participation by their under-40 attorneys.”
The phonathon portion of the CFJ kicked off November 15, and dozens of volunteers have been making phone calls to colleagues and friends seeking pledges toward the $270,000 campaign goal. There are more than 2200 names in the Campaign database, so it takes a lot of volunteers to get through the list.
Staff at Legal Services of Western New York have been making calls to attorneys with no record of donating to the Campaign – and there are quite a few names. Among them, many who don’t know about the great need for civil legal services in our own community where so many live in poverty.
“If every lawyer in the greater Rochester area would donate the value of one billable hour, we’d easily make our goal, but not every lawyer knows about the Campaign and how this single fundraiser serves three legal service organizations: LawNY, Legal Aid Society of Rochester, and VLSP,” Karen Schaefer, CFJ Co-Chair explained.
So, if you are reading this and haven’t yet donated to this year’s campaign, go to https://www.vlsprochester.org/campaign-for-justice and make a donation now. Get that payment in before December 31 to get a tax break on your 2017 charitable deductions.