The Illinois State Bar Association has announced winners of its Lawyers Feeding Illinois food and fundraising campaign whose goal was to raise at least one million meals. Lawyer teams and more than 2,000 donors raised in excess of 1,270,000 meals for the benefit of Illinoisans facing hunger in a statewide campaign held Feb. 18-March 1.

The competition winners will be honored at a ceremony on May 8 at the ISBA’s Chicago Regional Office. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office supported the campaign, will be on hand to help present the awards.

Law firms, individual lawyers and organizations to receive awards are:

Lawyers in Illinois took a big bite out of the state’s hunger problem by surpassing a goal to raise one million meals during a two-week food and fundraising drive from February 18-March 1.

Lawyers Feeding Illinois, an initiative of the ISBA, has raised $211,474, enough for 1,057,370 meals, and the dollars and non-perishable food supplies are still flowing in, according to ISBA President John E. Thies, of Urbana.

“This effort, supported by hundreds of lawyers, will significantly impact the lives of an estimated 1.9 million Illinoisans who are considered food insecure,” said Thies, who created the initiative as part of his presidency. Lawyers Feeding Illinois is supported by Feeding Illinois and the Office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Thies’ wife Terry chaired the campaign.

Entering the last day of the campaign, Lawyers Feeding Illinois has raised 913,000 meals and counting! Final figures will be available next week. Contributions can be made at www.lawyersfeedingil.org. Please watch the video below as ISBA President John E. Thies discusses how hunger impacts children in our state.

Bar leaders toured the River Bend Foodbank in Moline on Jan. 31 to call attention to the Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyers Feeding Illinois campaign, a food and fundraising drive Feb. 18-March 1, whose goal is to provide one million meals to the hungry. Pictured (from left) are John O'Brien, representing Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc., a major sponsor; Tom Laughlin, executive director of the River Bend Foodbank; ISBA President John E. Thies; and State’s Attorney John McGehee, president of the Rock Island County Bar Association. Lawyers and lawyer teams are currently signing up to participate in the campaign. For more information, visit www.lawyersfeedingil.org.

In the photo at right, a Quad Cities TV cameraman captures a discussion about the River Bend Foodbank in Moline during Thursday’s visit by Illinois bar leaders. Above are (from left) Mary Laughlin, of the foodbank, ISBA President John Thies, and Moline lawyers Bob Park and Frank Nowinski.