community service
A+B Brigade
[email protected]
By Cheryl Naja
Alston+Bird
R
emembering our veterans and supporting our troops is a
year-round effort at Alston+Bird. Whether through pro
bono work to a national organization that works with
families of fallen soldiers or other specific projects, A+B’s staff
and attorneys have pulled together for a number of projects.
Attorney Angie Burnette at Alston +Bird wanted to establish
an organized group of volunteers with the purpose of honoring
our military and veterans throughout the year. This group of
volunteers at Alston’s Atlanta office is called the “A+B Brigade.”
The Brigade first partnered with a newly formed nonprofit known
as the Veterans Empowerment Organization of Georgia, an
organization dedicated to serving homeless veterans in Atlanta.
(For more information on the VEO, please see their website at
www.veteransempowerment.org). The Brigade provided the VEO
a small grant along with a number of much needed household
items, even replacing those same items after one of the VEO’s
homes was burglarized. Since that time, other annual projects
by the Brigade have included Valentines for Veterans, delivered
to the VA Hospital during the National Salute to Hospitalized
Veterans Week, and providing snack items to the Jean R. Amos
USO Center. The Brigade also collects names of A+B staff and
attorneys who have served in the military. On Veteran’s Day,
the Brigade sends a small gift to each veteran, and managing
partner Richard Hays sends an email message honoring those
staff and attorneys.
This year also marks the seventh year that a group of volunteers at
A+B, led by reference librarian Susan Barkoff, have been sending
holiday care packages to military serving overseas. With the help
of the Brigade, the initiative has grown. The firm generally sends
twenty-five to thirty boxes to military serving all over the world
and also to wounded soldiers receiving treatment at Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center in Germany. Two emails from separate
care package recipients are below:
I was pleasantly surprised today to receive a large box of
snacks and other miscellaneous goodies from your law firm.
I just wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone that
8
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
January/February 2011
contributed to this, I’ve got 9-10 yo