Attorney General Chris Carr announced that registration is open for the 7th Annual Legal Food Frenzy, a statewide food and fund drive competition among Georgia’s lawyers to help end hunger. The 2018 competition will take place April 16 – April 27, 2018 and is done in partnership with the Office of the Attorney General, the State Bar of Georgia, the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Food Bank Association.

“I am thrilled to kick off the 7th Annual Legal Food Frenzy alongside the State Bar, Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar and the Georgia Food Bank Association,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “The Legal Food Frenzy helps ensure that children in Georgia don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from over the summer months. Instead, they can continue to grow, learn and play just like kids should. I could not be more proud that we were able to provide 1.3 million meals last year through the food banks, and we will do our best to top that total this year.”

Nearly 1 in 4 children in Georgia are at risk for hunger, and over 60 percent of Georgia’s public school students are eligible for free or reduced cost meals each day. For these kids, the last day of school is not always a happy occasion. Over the summer months, when they are out of school, families often struggle to put enough food on the table. The Legal Food Frenzy is strategically timed to help stock the food banks to ensure they can meet this increased need. Because food banks are able to leverage bulk buying power and donated food channels, with every 1 dollar donated, the Food Banks can, on average, return 8 dollars or more in food to the community.

The competition is open to all lawyers in the state of Georgia with special awards categories for solo, small, medium and large-sized firms as well as corporate/in-house counsel, judges and legal organizations. For the purpose of the competition, every 1 dollar raised during the two-weeks is four points and every one pound of food raised is one point, with various bonus point opportunities. All of the food and funds collected are donated to the regional food bank that serves each competitor’s respective community.

“We are so grateful to continue this partnership with the Office of the Attorney General, the Georgia State Bar, and the Young Lawyers Division,” said Executive Director of the Georgia Food Bank Association Danah Craft. “In the last seven years of Georgia Legal Food Frenzy, Georgia’s legal community raised an incredible 3.2 million meals for the food bank network. It is truly amazing to see how the legal community has come together to help us end hunger, and I cannot wait to see the impact of this year's competition."

The 6th Annual Legal Food Frenzy in 2017 raised a record $329,000 and 19,000 pounds of food, the equivalent of over 1.3 million meals for Georgia’s food banks. Last year’s Attorney General’s Cup winner was Jenkins & Roberts, LLC with the most raised per employee and the Bar President’s Award went to Coleman Talley LLP who raised the most overall.