On behalf of the Justice and Diversity Center’s Diversity and Pipeline Programs, we thank all firms that have stepped up to participate in this year’s Head Start Holiday Gift program.

Every year, law firms in San Francisco sign up to receive adorable letters from children, written to Santa as part of the Head Start Holiday Gift program. Thanks to the help of the generous legal community, we have been able to bring joy to close to 2,000 children and parents in San Francisco each year. However, given that programs have been closed due to COVID-19, no letters could be written and distributed this year—but that did stop firms from signing up!

Because of safety concerns around delivering presents during COVID-19, this year’s holiday gift program raised money to buy gift cards instead of wrapped presents. Gift cards with a minimum value of $25 dollars that can be redeemed at any department store presented the best solution this year, as they can also be mailed electronically.

But with requests for 1,426 children from seven Head Start programs, law firms still had to figure out how to collect donations, with teams working remotely. In some instances, firms sent emails to staff asking for donations, and within a week, children would receive a gift card for the holidays.

Firms sponsored elementary schools and nonprofits serving 25-120 students each, and some firms even adopted multiple sites. Even firms that could not purchase gift cards opted to donate to a site for them to purchase their own gift cards.

All Head Start programs have expressed gratitude to the San Francisco legal community, and we are extremely grateful for the amount of spirit-filled giving this holiday season. We hope that all firms and offices know how much their generosity is appreciated, especially in these difficult times.

Thank you to all of the firms, offices, and companies that participated in 2020:

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass
Crowell & Moring
Dentons US
Durie Tangri
Farella Braun + Martell
Fisher Phillps
Gluck Daniel
Hanson Bridgett
JAMS
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Law Offices of Asit Panwala
Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo
Morrison & Foerster
Munger, Tolles & Olson
Nixon Peabody
Office of the Attorney General
O’Melveny & Myers
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Paul Hastings
PG&E Legal Department
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Polsinelli
Shartsis Friese
SheppardMullin
Sideman & Bancroft
Sidley Austin
Trucker Huss

If you are interested in participating in 2021, email Samantha Akwei at sakwei@sfbar.org to get your name on the list. We will contact you in the fall with more information.