ABA Giving Day is an opportunity 'to help ensure a just society,' says ABA president
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For the second year, the ABA is asking members to join in its efforts to address significant issues that affect their communities.
During ABA Giving Day, which is scheduled for Oct. 28, they can direct their donations to specific projects, including those that prevent housing insecurity, improve the child welfare system or obtain benefits for military families.
The 24-hour initiative is sponsored by the ABA Fund for Justice and Education, the ABA’s charitable arm, and is hosted in conjunction with the National Celebration of Pro Bono, which runs from Oct. 24 to 30.
“This second ABA Giving Day promotes even more different ways to help ensure a just society by giving lawyers an opportunity to donate charitable dollars to address the urgent social issues of today,” ABA President Reginald Turner said in a press release. “A gift of money will greatly support these efforts.”
Turner added that he is calling on lawyers nationwide to spend 10 hours or more on ABA pro bono projects or other worthy causes by the end of the year.
The inaugural ABA Giving Day raised $115,000 for eight programs in 2020. This year, the Fund for Justice and Education hopes to raise at least $150,000 through contributions to these projects:
• The Fund for Justice and Education Annual Fund, which provides flexible funding to a myriad of legal services.
• The Center on Children and the Law, which improves due process and legal representation in the child welfare system.
• The Commission on Homelessness & Poverty’s Homeless Court Program, which helps people resolve convictions, fines and fees and connects them to social and health services.
• The Division for Public Education’s National Civics and Law Academy, which gives diverse high school students the opportunity to better understand how law shapes public policy.
• The Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, which aims to protect and advance human rights, civil liberties and social justice.
• The Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel’s Military Pro Bono Project, which helps military members overcome barriers to the justice system by connecting them with civilian pro bono attorneys.
• The Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service’s Free Legal Answers, which ensures that people and families receive online legal advice from pro bono lawyers.
• The Young Lawyers Division’s Disaster Legal Services Program, which guides survivors through the aftermath of disasters in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
• The Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, which advocates for survivors of gender-based violence and helps provides victim safety, offender accountability and systemic reform.
• The Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund, which aims to infuse the legal profession with diversity, equity and inclusion by awarding three-year scholarships to law students of color.
• The Litigation Section’s Judicial Intern Opportunity Program, which works to increase diversity in the courts by helping underrepresented law students obtain paid judicial internships.
• The Section of Taxation’s Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellowship, which supports law school graduates who work in nonprofit organizations that offer tax-related legal services.
• The Death Penalty Representation Project, which works to improve the quality and availability of legal representation for people facing the death penalty.
• The Commission on Immigration, which supports due process and fair treatment for immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees through three programs: The Children’s Immigration Law Academy, the Immigration Justice Project and the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project.
For more information or to donate, visit the ABA Giving Day website.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “First-ever ABA Giving Day addresses COVID-19 and racial justice”
