Generosity Touchdown

It’s no secret that our favorite thing to do is heap praise on law firms we feel are taking the generosity ball and running with it. This week our shout-out is to Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a national firm whose Chicago office recently held a Heisman trophy event to raise funds for the Lawyers Lend-a-Hand to Youth program. One of our favorite organizations, LLAH partners with local mentoring programs – such as the shout-out-worthy Minds Matter – to help at-risk youth rise above their circumstances and create better lives for themselves. As the LLAH website explains, “Members of the legal profession are uniquely situated to make a profound impact on young people’s lives to enable them to reach their full potential and provide them with the tools to avoid the criminal justice system.” By volunteering as mentors or sponsoring mentoring programs, law firms like Drinker Biddle can offer young people an alternative view of the future – one where they can envision being on an entirely different side of the law than their circumstances may otherwise predict. For its part, the Minds Matter mentoring program has a 100% success rate for getting its mentees accepted into four-year colleges, unquestionably changing the lives of the students being mentored by their volunteers.

Partnerships like the one between LLAH and Minds Matter deserve to be celebrated and supported, which is exactly what the Drinker Biddle Heisman trophy “tailgating” event was all about. Members of both organizations were on hand, and all present were able to enjoy a night of inspiration, posing with the Heisman trophy, and basking in the glow of the great work being done collaboratively by Drinker Biddle, LLAH and Minds Matter. We applaud everyone involved for their collective efforts to guide these young people.

Is your firm helping to groom the lawyers of tomorrow through mentoring programs like Minds Matter? Share your success stories below.