WAW Collects Over 25,000 Pounds of Food for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

June 10, 2008

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell recently announced the results of the Second Annual Statewide “Legal Food Frenzy.” The philanthropic competition among Virginia’s legal community raised 1,366,401 pounds of food for Food Banks in the Commonwealth, enough food for 1,067,501 meals. This doubles last year’s total of almost 679,000 pounds raised. The goal for this year’s event was 1 million pounds.

The “Legal Food Frenzy” is a statewide food drive competition for the Commonwealth’s legal community, and ran from March 31-April 11. 181 law firms statewide participated in this year’s event and were separated into seven regions that reflected the state’s food bank resources. The Blue Ridge region, serviced by the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, encompasses the counties of Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Page, Shenandoah, Warren, Albemarle, Buckingham, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock.

Winning the award for the law firm that raised the most food in the Blue Ridge region was Wharton Aldhizer and Weaver, PLC with 25,338 pounds of donated food and 31% of all of the food donated to the food bank in this region. Ms. Jill Lowell, an attorney at WAW, was involved in garnering over 20 law firms in the region to participate in the food drive as well as leading the food drive locally at WAW. On June 4, Ms. Lowell accepted the award given by BRAFB on behalf of WAW for most food donated to the BRAFB. During the awards ceremony, Ms. Lowell stated that an internal competition between various groups at WAW created a very high level of interest and employee involvement that helped with the accumulation and donation of so many food products. According to Ms. Lowell, the food drive created a healthy competitive spirit between the employees and the true winners were the BRAFB and the many families and groups that it supports. WAW was privileged to help such a worthy cause.

Following are the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank results for the Legal Frenzy Food Drive:

Total pounds donated Winners

1. Wharton, Aldhizer & Weaver, PLC (Harrisonburg) with 25,338 pounds
2. McGuire Woods (Charlottesville) with 24,740 pounds
3. Campbell Miller Zimmerman (Leesburg) with 10,016 pounds

Per Capita Winners (average donation per person)

1. McGuire Woods (Charlottesville - 45 employees) 550 pounds per employee
2. Campbell Miller Zimmerman (Leesburg - 20 employees) 500 pounds per employee
3. Wharton Aldhizer and Weaver (Harrisonburg– 60 employees) 423 pounds per employee

Category (By Size) Winners

Small: Campbell Miller Zimmerman
Medium: Wharton Aldhizer & Weaver
Large: Washington & Lee University School of Law