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On Friday, August 19th, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office held their annual “Prosecutor’s Wurst Night” at the Tacoma Rainiers baseball game in Tacoma.  Traditionally the Wurst Night starts with a large tailgate party in the parking lot for the family and friends of those who work in the Prosecutor’s office and law enforcement.  After folks have had a chance to get a bite and socialize, everyone proceeds into the game to watch the Rainers. 

Each year the office takes the proceeds from the event and donates them to a local charity.  For the past two years, the office has chosen Lawyers Helping Hungry Children as the recipient of their donations.  This year local attorney Julian Bray appeared on behalf of LHHC and spoke about the vital need for support of children in Tacoma Public Schools through the Food Connection Backpack Program.  He spoke about the large number of students in Tacoma Public Schools who qualify for free and reduced lunches and about the nearly 450 children who will be served through the Backpack Program this year.  The program sends children who qualify home with enough food for two days (the weekend) and has formed significant partnerships with nearly 15 local schools to ensure that the backpacks are collected each week so that they may be refilled.  All proceeds from this year’s event will go to the Backpack Program.  This year’s event raised almost $1,000 for LHHC!  A very special “thanks” to Prosecutor Mark Lindquist, Chief Criminal Deputy Mary Robnett, and DPA’s Kevin McCann and John Sheeran. 

Seattle, WA – Members of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children from all over Washington State will be standing together for a 24-hour hunger strike to protest proposed federal budget cuts to hunger relief programs.  The fast will last from noon on Wednesday, April 6 to noon on Thursday, April 7.  The organization expects to gather support from over 100 members and other individuals.  The strike is meant to send a message to politicians in Olympia and Washington, D.C.  The poor are under attack again in House budget bill, H.R. 1, which proposed cuts to the vital WICundefinedwomen, infants and childrenundefinedprogram as well as international food and health aid.  Food stamps are also being targeted for cuts at the national level and local aid programs are faring no better. 

The members of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children refuse to stand idly by while the children in our communities in Washington and across the nation are under attack, for children cannot succeed in school and in life without food in their bellies.  Lawyers Helping Hungry Children urges lawyers and non-lawyers to join them in this important cause.  Go hungry from noon on April 6 to noon on April 7, and talk about the issues with your friends, family, colleagues and politicians.  This hunger strike was instigated by the Chair of the organization, Neal Philip, who was inspired by Mark Bittman’s March 29, 2011 column in the New York Times, “Why We’re Fasting.” 

Lawyers Helping Hungry Children raises money for beneficiary organizations striving to end childhood hunger and to feed hungry children.  The organization also raises awareness for childhood hunger issues locally and nationally.  Those interested in participating in the hunger strike should contact Neal Philip at nphilip@fultonphilip.com.

The Seattle Chapter of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children, a non-profit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Washington, held its annual fundraiser on October 13, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle.  The luncheon was emceed by Neal Philip, the organization’s Chair, and included rousing speeches by AG Rob McKenna and former Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge.  AG Rob McKenna told the audience of over 150 people about his introduction to childhood hunger:  his mother taught a student whose daily lunch consisted of a potato sandwich and a mayonnaise jar full of water.  She made a difference by organizing balanced meals at her school for underprivileged children.  Lawyers Helping Hungry Children raises money for beneficiary organizations striving to end the same childhood hunger issues AG McKenna witnessed as a child.  In addition to the esteemed speakers, notable attendees included Court of Appeals Judge Ronald Cox and Representative Jamie Pedersen (43rd District), a partner at the law firm K&L Gates.  The luncheon concluded with a performance by the director of the Leschi Elementary School Choir, Debbie Cavitt.

The money raised by Lawyers Helping Hungry Children goes to beneficiary organizations that provide food to children of low-income families and to advocacy for childhood hunger issues.  Beneficiary organizations include: WithinReach, CARE, Children’s Alliance, City of Seattle Summer Food Program, Northwest Harvest and Emergency Feeding Program.  Lawyers Helping Hungry Children has partnered with the Children’s Alliance and Share Our Strength in their “No Kid Hungry” campaign to end childhood hunger by 2015, see www.strength.org for more information.

The Tacoma Chapter of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children held a breakfast fundraiser the same day.  Additional information about Lawyers Helping Hungry Children is available on the organization’s page on Facebook or at www.lawyershelpinghungrychildren.org.

by Marla Zink and Manish Borde

Lawyers Helping Hungry Children, a non-profit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Washington, held fundraisers in Seattle and Tacoma on October 9, 2009.  The day kicked off in Tacoma with that Chapter’s first breakfast fundraiser co-chaired by Assistant Attorney General Julian Bray and Todd Carlisle, Staff Attorney for the Northwest Justice Project.  Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist and Seattle University School of Law Dean Annette Clark were among those in attendance to hear Jack Connelly, Jr., of the Connelly Law Offices; Kevin Glakin-Coley, Director of the Food Connection food bank; and Carol Ramm-Gramenz, a counselor at McCarver Elementary School, speak about childhood hunger. 

The Seattle Chapter of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children hosted its annual luncheon the same day.  The Seattle luncheon began with a rousing performance by the Leschi Elementary School Choir.  Arthur Lee of the Emergency Feeding Program and Javier Pulido and Ainealem Zerahaimanot of Seattle’s Summer Food Service Program then spoke about their programs’ efforts at feeding hungry children in the Seattle area.  Nancy Amidei, faculty member at the University of Washington School of Social Work and longtime advocate for changing public policy to better serve the most vulnerable populations, also spoke to attendees about some of the facts and faces of hunger in Washington State.  Representative Jamie Pedersen (43rd District), a partner at the law firm K&L Gates, was also in attendance.  Together, the fundraisers brought in over $34,000.

Save the date for what promises to be another exciting luncheon to support Lawyers Helping Hungry Children. The luncheon will be held Friday, October 9, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Seattle. Governor Christine Gregoire is the invited key note speaker, and at least one representative from a donor organization will provide attendees with hands-on information regarding what their organization does to provide food for hungry children and how Lawyers Helping Hungry Children’s donations assist that goal.

Lawyers Helping Hungry Children is a non-profit composed primarily of members of the legal profession dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Washington.  Lawyers Helping Hungry Children also raises money for beneficiary organizations that provide food to children of low-income families.  These beneficiary organizations include: WithinReach, CARE, Children’s Alliance, City of Seattle Summer Food Program, Northwest Harvest and Emergency Feeding Program. 

March 20, 2009 was Hunger Action Day at our state’s capitol.  Throughout the day, numerous organizations and volunteers gathered in Olympia to ask our legislators to help feed Washington’s less fortunate.  Members of Seattle-based Lawyers Helping Hungry Children were among those advocating for Washington’s hungry children.

In light of the current fiscal environment, the Children’s Alliance’sAnti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition had a fairly ambitious agenda: (1) convince legislators to approve HB-1416/SB-5361, which provides free school lunch to all low-income elementary school students and increases funds for summer meal reimbursements and “Meals for Kids” grants to develop summer feeding programs; (2) preserve the additional $5 million in the Governor’s budget to put more food in food banks and meal programs across Washington State; (3) secure funding through 2011 for the Farms to Food Bank pilot sites, which grow produce for local food banks and were created by the 2008 “Local Farms – Healthy Kids” law; and (4) preserve the critical safety net for people living with HIV/AIDS by reallocating the $500,000 Medical Nutrition Therapy grant in the Department of Health’s budget from research to direct services.

Volunteers first participated in a two-hour session hosted by Children’s Alliance.  During the session, members of Children’s Alliance briefed approximately 50 volunteers on how best to push the agenda, including how to inform and communicate with legislators.  In this economic climate, the ultimate message was “don’t cut the basic anti-hunger services.”  Children’s Alliance then provided the volunteers with assignments and a map and sent them off to meet with those legislators that represented the districts in which the volunteers resided. 

The team from Lawyers Helping Hungry Children played a critical role in discussing child hunger issues from the local attorney’s perspective.  Many legislators were sympathetic to the cause, and Lawyers Helping Hungry Children members spoke directly with attorney-legislators as well as representatives from their home districts.  A particularly telling story was relayed by one of Burien Food Bank’s clients, a woman who recounted her family’s predicament of a college-educated couple that initially resisted going to a food bank because of the associated stigma, but had no choice after, as a result of the current economic state, they were forced to choose between paying for food or paying their medical co-pays.

Children’s Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of Washington’s children.  Among other things, Children’s Alliance is committed to ending childhood hunger in Washington.

Lawyers Helping Hungry Children is a non-profit composed of members of the legal profession dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Washington.  Lawyers Helping Hungry Children raises money for beneficiary organizations that provide food to children of low-income families.  These beneficiary organizations include: WithinReach, CARE, Children’s Alliance, City of Seattle Summer Food Program, Northwest Harvest and Emergency Feeding Program.  Lawyers Helping Hungry Children’s main fundraising event is its annual luncheon, that occurs in October at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Seattle.  This year, Lawyers Helping Hungry Children was able to donate $21,000 to its beneficiary organizations. 

SEATTLE - Thousands of Seattle children ages 1-18 will enjoy free breakfasts, lunches and snacks this summer through the Seattle Human Services’ Department’s Summer Food Service Program. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded program, also known as Summer Sack Lunch, will serve children at more than 120 sites from June 27 through August 24.

"Many children who participate in the school meal program during the academic year rely on that program to provide their primary source of nutrition," said Human Services Department Director Patricia McInturff. "The Summer Sack Lunch program allows the community to continue meeting the nutritional needs of those children during the summer."

In 2004, more than 41,000 breakfasts and 150,000 lunches were served, and at least that many are likely to be served this summer. The estimated budget for this summer is $711,000, with 89 percent of the funding coming from the USDA and the balance coming from the City of Seattle’s General Fund and Lawyers Helping Hungry Children, a local nonprofit organization.

The Summer Food Service Program is available at designated community centers, park playgrounds, Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs, YMCAs and other community sites throughout Seattle. A half dozen of the sites are in King County just outside Seattle city limits. About 90 of these sites offer the food program to the public, while the remaining sites offer the food program only to children enrolled in those sites’ summer activity programs. A complete list of sites and hours detailing where and when the Summer Food Service Program is available by calling 206-386-1140 or by visiting http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/children_families/nutrition/summer_food.htm