News Article

RALEIGH, NC - Urban Ministries of Wake County announced today that Womble Carlyle is its first corporate sponsor of the 52 Week Food Drive. The 52 Week Food Drive is a new initiative designed to create a reliable source of donated food year-round. Through the 52 Week Food Drive, participating organizations such as businesses, schools, churches and civic groups will sponsor a food drive one week out of the year each year. Alternatively, organizations can donate funding to cover the cost of a week's needs.

 

Urban Ministries kicked off the campaign Friday surrounded by dry beans and peanut butter donated by attorneys and staff in Womble Carlyle's Raleigh office. Womble Carlyle attorney Jackie Hughes selected the second week of January noting that food banks often receive large amounts of donations prior to holiday periods but can struggle to keep up with needs afterward.

 

“Our contribution is just a drop in the bucket of what Urban Ministries needs so we hope other local businesses and community organizations will join us in this wonderful effort,” Hughes said.

 

Urban Ministries’ Food Pantry serves an average of 40 families a day. Since the start of the last recession the need has climbed, causing some emergency food suppliers to cease or decrease operations in the face of overwhelming demand and uncertain supply.

 

“Hunger is as close as your neighbor’s home,” said Dr. Peter Morris, director of Urban Ministries. “Nearly one in seven children lives in a home where there isn’t enough food to last the month. It isn’t poor parenting or poor planning, it’s not enough money to stretch living needs from paycheck to paycheck.” Fourteen percent of children live in homes that experience food insecurity at least once during the year.

 

“Urban Ministries runs an emergency food pantry to bridge families until the next paycheck,” continued Dr. Morris. “We are so pleased that Womble Carlyle is our first corporate sponsor to adopt a week and assure that our shelves aren’t empty so children and families stomachs won’t be empty.” 

Johnny Loper, managing partner in Womble Carlyle's Raleigh office, spoke during the kickoff Friday and noted the law firm feels just as strongly about its civic role in the community as it does about its legal role.

 

“Womble Carlyle is proud of the partnerships it has formed over the firm's long history,” Loper said. “Often those partnerships are with our clients, and we're grateful for those opportunities, but we're also grateful for our civic partnerships with organizations like Urban Ministries who inspire us to be thoughtful corporate citizens and caring people.”

 

For more information on the 52 Week Food Drive contact Carol Schwartz at 919-256-2179 or cschwartz@urbanmin.org.

 

For additional coverage of the announcement check out:

 

For 31 years, Urban Ministries of Wake County has worked to alleviate poverty in Wake County by meeting people’s basic needs for food, shelter, and healthcare. Urban Ministries serves 24,000 individuals each year -- including 9,000 children -- in strategic and comprehensive ways to help them become more self-sufficient. Because of its army of volunteers and significant ‘in-kind’ support, 94 cents of every dollar contributed goes directly to client services. 

Womble Carlyle is a full-service business law firm with a focus on innovative solutions to client needs. The firm supports the Association of Corporate Counsel in the ACC Value Challenge, which seeks to better align legal services with the needs of corporate clients.

The firm serves clients nationally and globally with more than 550 attorneys in fourteen offices: Atlanta; Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Silicon Valley, Calif., Washington, D.C.; Tysons Corner, Va.; Baltimore; and Wilmington, Del.

In the community, the firm is the first law firm to receive the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award as well as the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award.