For this year, the Utah Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators is sponsoring a volunteer activity in conjunction with ALA’s Community Challenge event. I am hopeful for record attendance/participation this year. Our target charity is the Utah Food Bank, see http://www.utahfoodbank.org As you may have heard, the Utah Food Bank is a primary food distribution resource for many organizations that feed the growing hungry among us. Honestly, no one in our area should go hungry. Lately, their corporate contributions and bulk food gifts have declined. They need help badly.

 For this year, we are proposing a program where you, your employees, and your Firms can all get involved on Friday, October 21, 2011. The program has two levels: 1) Give money or collect canned food donations; and 2)Volunteer time at the Utah food bank. Both are welcome and encouraged. Here are the details:

 1. Money or Canned Food Donations: Several ideas are available, for example: get a contribution check from your Firm (the easiest), do a bake sale and send in the proceeds, collect canned foods from your building, encourage your employees to empty all that “year supply” food storage we never use and donate, win the lottery/donate a kidney (the hardest) and send in the proceeds, etc. Regardless of your plan, please plan on sending me the funds prior to noon on October 21, 2011. Canned foods can be delivered directly to the Utah Food Bank (but be sure to mention the UALA as the donating organization).

 2. Volunteer at the Food Bank: We have scheduled a few hours of volunteering at the Utah Food Bank on Friday, October 21, 2011, from 1:30pm – 3:30pm. Please encourage as many people from your Firm as possible…heck, make it a “casual-dress-Friday-for-a-cause”! Likely projects at the Food Bank include building dry soup kits, assembling food boxes, or other necessary tasks. The UALA leadership promises to entertain us all with witty jokes, yodeling contests and Matt’s heart-wrenching rendition of Boise State’s fight song. I told the Food Bank to plan for at least 25 volunteers, so don’t make me a liar!

Please RSVP to Korey Lowder by October 7, 2011 with the number of volunteers from your Firms.