By Nikita Hernandez, Sumner Immigration Law Paralegal

It's that time of year again! Sumner Immigration is participating in the 15th annual Legal Food Frenzy through FeedMore from April 1 - 30, 2021.The Legal Food Frenzy (LFF) is an annual fundraising/food drive competition created in partnership with the Virginia Attorney General, the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the Virginia Bar Association, and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks. According to their website, "COVID-19 presented a unique set of challenges for Virginia’s food banks. Food donations were down, volunteers dried up, agencies closed, and demand skyrocketed. Feeding America estimates that 275,000 more Virginians are struggling with food insecurity, which means nearly 1.2 million do not always have access to the food they need to thrive."

You may recall we participated in this event in 2019, where our firm raised 2264.12 pounds per person (11,320.60 pounds for our 5 person firm) and won the Attorney's General Cup (first place) for most donations raised! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Legal Food Frenzy was cancelled for 2020, but it's back this year and we are more than ready to help our neighbors in need. Our goal this year is to raise $3500 to help our Central Richmond food insecure community. We appreciate any donations we receive this year. No donation is too small! As little as $1 equals 4 meals. A $5 donation in place of your morning coffee run could provide 20 meals!

As defending champions this year, we're offering several incentives to those who help us achieve our donation goal!

• Matching Mondays: For every donation made on a Monday in April, we will match the donation 100%, up to $1000 total.
• Thankful Thursdays: Each Thursday, we will give out a social media shout out to anyone who has donated that week.
• Get a consultation and give a donation! Sumner Immigration Law will donate 100% of the consultation fees to the Legal Food Frenzy for any consultations booked during the month of April (even if the consultation is scheduled for May or later).
• If we achieve our full donation goal, the brave attorneys of Sumner Immigration will get pied in the face! Remember those days from secondary school fundraiser carnivals where you could pie your favorite teacher or coach? Now you have the same opportunity for your immigration professionals! Additionally, any donation we receive over $150 will add another pie the attorneys will receive! Once the Legal Food Frenzy wraps up and winners are announced, we'll host the pie event live on social media. So stay tuned and make sure to join us for a pie-licious day!

To date, the Legal Food Frenzy has raised the equivalent of more than 17 million pounds of food for those in need. 1 out of every 10 individuals in Central Virginia is food insecure. This means that more than 160,000 of our neighbors face hunger and, more than 46,000, or 1 in 7 of these individuals are children who are not receiving the necessary nutrition. Sadly, the pandemic has multiplied the number of individuals struggling with hunger and as we work to recover from the pandemic the number is projected to increase across Central Virginia to include 50,450 additional people and more than 20,600 kids. Feed More serves the Central Virginia community by providing meals, food pantries, summer food and weekend backpack programs for kids, and so much more to our communities in need.

The Sumner Immigration Law team is excited to participate in the 15th annual Legal Food Frenzy to help our community through this hunger crisis that's been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, any donation amount helps and no donation is too small. As little as $1 equals 4 meals. You can help us reach our goal again this year and donate using the link below! Any amount helps!

Be sure to follow our progress updates on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn! We look forward to reaching our goal this year with your help! This April, your donations can make a difference!