Join Iowa law firms in fight against food insecurity

By Bill Boatwright, Dentons Davis Brown

More than 20 years ago, my firm held its first fundraising drive to benefit Food Bank of Iowa as part of that charity's annual Combat Hunger campaign. Our initial effort had a humble beginning, consisting of two empty bankers' boxes in a vacant office, where canned goods and other needed items were collected. Knowing the competitive nature of lawyers, our Business Division lawyers and staff were pitted against our Litigation Division lawyers and staff to see which group could collect the most in monetary and in-kind donations. As I recall, the Business Division was triumphant and filled two bankers' boxes with contributions, and collected a larger amount of cash than our competitors raised.

Over the years, the format of the internal competition changed, with the staff having its own team for a while (which held the longest winning streak for many years), and then ultimately a division of teams by alphabetical order to try to create parity across all of our employees. I'm proud to say that during the last several years, our combined firm donations to the Food Bank have totaled at or near $10,000 each year.

Joining forces

Thinking about the impact of my firm's donations and how much greater the impact could be if we enlisted our colleagues at other law firms to join us, we reached out to several Des Moines firms to inquire if they'd be interested in partnering with us in a joint campaign to benefit the Food Bank. I'm thrilled to share that for this year's drive, which we've dubbed "Iowa Law Firms Against Food Insecurity," the Des Moines law firms of BrownWinick and Nyemaster will join Dentons Davis Brown in the fight against food insecurity for our fellow Iowans. This year won't be a competition, but rather a collective effort to maximize donations for the Food Bank's benefit. If the participating firms want to have their own internal competitions as our firm does, they're welcome to do so but any results of those will not be public.

Why we all need to work together

Food insecurity and hunger in Iowa are at startling and rising levels - 345,000 Iowans currently live in poverty. One in 9 Iowans, and 1 in 6 Iowa children, face hunger every day. According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study, Iowa has not experienced food insecurity this high since 2017.

For those who aren't familiar with the Food Bank, it has locations in Des Moines and Ottumwa. It serves as a distribution center for 700 partner agencies across 55 counties, which directly distribute food and other dry goods to Iowans facing hunger in their local communities. These partner agencies include food pantries, schools, and homeless shelters. Last year, the Food Bank distributed more than 22 million pounds of food to these agencies.

Because of the Food Bank's bulk purchasing power, cash contributions are preferred to in-kind donations to maximize the amount of food that can be distributed to the ultimate recipients. That said, in-kind contributions of any amount are always appreciated. The Food Bank is a § 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions made to it are tax-deductible.

How your law firm can help

Food insecurity has no season, and with rising food prices and inflation, Food Bank donations are needed year-round. In light of this, our joint "Iowa Law Firms Against Food Insecurity" campaign will be August 19-August 30.

While there are currently three law firms participating, we welcome any others who would like to join us in this effort. Participation in the drive is simple. The Food Bank staff will set up a dedicated webpage for each firm to make cash donations towards the campaign. For those who don't want to participate at the firm level, a general webpage will be available for individual contributions. Each firm will be able to track its employees' contributions, but only the total of all firms' collective contributions will be public on the Food Bank's website. If you would like to join our combined effort and participate in this important cause, please contact Emma Runde at [email protected], or by calling her at (515) 564-0330.

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