Andrews Kurth Delivers Gifts to North Texas Food Bank in Time for the Holidays

DALLAS – Andrews Kurth Dallas Office Managing Partner Mark Solomon announced today that the firm will donate $15,000 to the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB). The donation was made on behalf of the firm’s clients and in recognition of the charity’s ongoing efforts to help hungry individuals and families throughout the North Texas area. The office will also provide food donations collected during its two week food drive along with the financial contribution.

“We are very pleased that we were able to make this donation to NTFB,” said Solomon. “The food bank does a great job of providing food to thousands of hungry people in the 13 North Texas counties they serve, and we are proud to be part of that effort.” 

The Dallas office food drive was a contest to see which floor could donate the most food. Staff and attorneys on the winning floor won the right to wear jeans to work for a day. Collection bins were placed on every floor, and posters and flyers were spread throughout the office.

In total, the office donated enough food and monetary donations for the food bank to provide more than 75,000 meals to men, women and children throughout the Dallas area. Leading the effort for the Dallas office were Nancy Riley, office administrator, and Karen Babb, administrative assistant.

“I think the difference was that certain people stepped up and took leadership of their individual floors to make sure our lawyers and staff knew about the drive and were given every opportunity to participate,” said Babb. “Without people like Linda Stahl, Linda Krieg and Gina Clark getting the word out every day, we wouldn’t have been even half as successful as we were. Someone even gave us a $500 check on the last day of drive. It’s really meaningful to give for something as critical as food for hungry children in our area.”

“The North Texas Food Bank could not do what we do without the generous support of friends like Andrews Kurth. We are so appreciative that they have continued to support NTFB and our mission for the third year in a row,” said Jan Pruitt, the food bank’s CEO.  

Programs offered by the food bank include:

• Member Agencies   which feed families and children through pantries, shelters and soup kitchens. More than 40 percent of households served have children age 18 or younger.
• Food 4 Kids -  supplies schools in low-income areas with nutritious, kid-friendly, self-serve food designed to fill a backpack and feed a child over the weekend during the school year. Children chronically at risk of hunger are identified by their teachers to participate in this program that provides immediate, confidential and direct assistance to meet their nutrition needs.
• Kids Cafe - works with after-school programs to provide nutritious evening meals to children that may otherwise not receive that third meal at home. All 22 NTFB Kids Cafes receive hot meals from NTFB’s Community Kitchen.
• The Summer Food Service Program ensures that children in low-income areas receive nutritious meals during summer vacations when they do not have access to school breakfast or lunch programs. The meals increase attendance at programs that provide learning opportunities that are safe and fun.

Below are ways that individuals and groups can help the food bank:

• Food For Families - Work outdoors to sort and distribute food to Agency clients in various Dallas county locations; distribution occurs every Friday and two Thursdays of the month.
• Operation Frontline - Help Nutrition Education Coordinator Katherine Lindholm provide education on nutrition, culinary skills, food budgeting, and food safety to agency clients by serving as a chef, nutritionist, grocery shopper, or classroom manager.
• Community Kitchen - Help prepare meals for future use by member Agencies under the supervision of Community Kitchen Manager and Chef James Williams.

About North Texas Food Bank
The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB), a member of America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network, is a nonprofit center for food distribution that procures donated surplus food and transfers it in usable quantities to over 678 feeding and education programs in 13 North Texas counties. Last year, 37 million pounds of food were distributed. Each month, agency pantries distributed food to more than 57,000 families, and on-site meal programs served 503,000 meals/snacks. To learn more visit www.ntxfoodbank.org.

About Andrews Kurth
For more than a century, Andrews Kurth LLP has built its practice on the belief that “straight talk is good business.” Real answers, clear vision and mutual respect define the firm’s relationships with clients, colleagues, communities and employees. With more than 400 lawyers and offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, The Woodlands and Washington, DC, Andrews Kurth represents a wide array of clients in all areas of business law. For more information about Andrews Kurth, please visit andrewskurth.com.