avlf
AVLF Winetasting: Party with a Cause
By Tamara Caldas
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
T
here is a change in the air at the office of the Atlanta
Volunteer Lawyers Foundation: It’s not just that
the weather is a little cooler and the days are a bit
shorter – it’s that we are in Winetasting Season and in a few
short weeks we get to celebrate the best of what the legal
community has to offer with so many of you in the Atlanta
Bar! Your support and participation in this event means the
world to AVLF.
AVLF’s Winetasting has taken place on the first
Thursday of November for more than 20 years, and this year
will be on Thursday, November 1st. The Winestasting is
Save the date
for the Emory Public Interest Committee’s
2013 EPIC Inspiration Awards
Ceremony and Reception
7 p.m. Tuesday, February 5
Tull Auditorium, Emory University School of Law
Honoring
Robert N. “Robbie” Dokson
Lifetime Commitment to Public Service
Jeffrey O. Bramlett
Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest
Tamara Serwer Caldas
Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need
All funds raised support Emory Law students
working in public sector summer jobs.
To make a donation or for more information,
visit EPIC Inspiration Awards
or contact Sue McAvoy at [email protected]
or 404.727.5503
20
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
October 2012
[email protected]
more than just AVLF’s most important fundraiser: in addition
to providing us with more than 40% of our operating budget
in a time when other sources of funding are dwindling, the
Winetasting is also an annual demonstration of the depth
and breadth of support we have in this community.
More than 800 attorneys, judges, businesspeople, law
students, staff from government and from sister non-profits
and so many other friends gather for one evening to share
stories, laugh, drink terrific wine and eat fantastic food
together. As a member of AVLF’s staff for seven years, I can
tell you that this expression of support means a great deal to
us: it shows us that what we do in providing legal advocacy to
victims of domestic violence, to families facing homelessness
through eviction, or to working people deprived their wages is
valued by you. It demonstrates that when we do community
education and outreach about consumer law in South Fulton
or provide child advocacy training to new lawyers at one of
your law firms, you believe in our work.
Behind the warmth and gaiety at our Winetasting are the
families served by AVLF’s program: the single father of
two who receives compensation for being locked out of his
home and losing all of his family’s possessions because his
landlord just didn’t want him there anymore; the restaurant
worker who finally receives a paycheck for more than 80
hours of labor that her employer had failed to pay; the young
pregnant woman beaten by her husband who receives a
protective order, shelter and resources after visiting AVLF’s
Safe Families Office. It is because of you that we can build
effective volunteer programs that make these outcomes
possible.
We hope to see you at this year’s event which will be held
at the elegant and spacious SunTrust Plaza Garden Atrium
at 303 Peachtree Center Avenue on Thursday, November
1, 2012, from 5:30 – 8:30. If you have not yet purchased a
ticket, please go to www.avlf.org and do so right now! If you
are unable to come, please consider making a contribution
nonetheless. We need your support, we appreciate every
dollar you contribute to our efforts, and we value you for all
that you do for low-income families in our community in this
season and throughout the year. ■
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association