Special thanks to all of the law firms and organizations that participated in the 2018 Head Start Holiday Gift Program this winter. With your help, we were able to bring joy to close to 2,000 children and parents in San Francisco.  With forty elementary schools and nonprofits serving 20-120 students each, many firms went above and beyond to sponsor more than one organization.

It takes caring and compassionate individuals to take time to shop, wrap and deliver gifts in the midst of busy workloads. Many participating attorneys even attested to shopping for children of the program before their own children to ensure that they would not go without receiving a holiday gift.

See the list of all participating firms and organizations below and consider joining us again next holiday season!  A part of fostering any healthy and vibrant community requires those who have to show up for those who don’t, and this program is a great illustration of service in action.

If you are interested in participating in 2019, email Samantha Akwei at sakwei@sfbar.org now to get your name on the list. We will contact you in the fall with more information. Learn more: www.sfbar.org/headstart.

Testimonials:

“The children were extremely happy and parents very appreciative.  Everyone involved has made this holiday season very special to those families. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to everyone for their generosity.”

Sylvia Mrabe, Excelsior@Guadalupe Preschool

“What a great program this is, and how much fun we have participating in it.

We have it down to a science.   For those attorneys/staff who are too busy to shop, I collect money from them and do the shopping.  This works really well for us.  This year, I shopped for 17 children.

I supply all the gift bags myself.  They are all uniform in size and shape.  I also purchase stocking stuffers and this year I’m proud to say that each child received a book in their bag along with their requested items, along with various scarfs, hats, mittens, gloves, socks, coloring books, crayons, activity books, etc.   No two gifts received the same thing!

For those children who mentioned having older siblings, we also included a few extra items in their bags for their siblings/parents, such as holiday puzzles, 500 pieces, so the entire family could work on the puzzle together. All in all, a very successful year.   We have items and gift bags left over that we will use again next year!  We already have a head start.”

David A. Kramlick, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Thank you to all of the participating firms and organizations:

Coblentz, Patch, Duffy, & Bass

Covington & Burling

Crowell & Moring

Dentons US

Durie Tangri

Farella Braun + Martell

Fenwick & West

Greene Radovsky Maloney Share & Hennigh

Hanson Bridgett

Hersh FamilyLaw Practice

Infinite Global

JAMS

Jones Day

Keker, Van Nest & Peters

Law Offices of Audrey T. Courson

SF-Marin Lawyer Referral & Information Service

Lubin Olson & Niewiadomski

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

McCown & Evans

McKesson Corporation Law Department

Miller Law Group

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Morrison & Foerster

Nixon Peabody

O’Melveny & Myers

Office of the Attorney General

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Paul Hastings

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Polsinelli

Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld

San Francisco Public Defender’s Office

Seyfarth Shaw

Shartsis Friese

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton

Sideman & Bancroft

Sidley Austin

Trucker Huss

Venable