Bracewell & Giuliani's Day of Service 2012

In observance of the national Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, the Associate Inclusion Committee hosted the firm-wide Bracewell & Giuliani Day of Service. Bracewell employees and their families were invited to participate in giving back to the community. We look forward to continuing this annual tradition! Below are more details of each office's Day of Service.

To view photos from each office, click here.

Austin - Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
In its 31st year of service, the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB) provides food and grocery products to more than 300 partner agencies in 21 Central Texas counties. In Fiscal Year 2010-11, CAFB provided more than 24 million pounds of food. The mission of the Capital Area Food Bank is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger. Bracewell & Giuliani families inspected and sorted food donated by local retailers.

Connecticut - Foodshare
Foodshare works to end hunger as part of the overall community effort to alleviate poverty in greater Hartford. The company's mission is to engage the greater Hartford community for the purpose of distributing food and increasing self-sufficiency. By working closely with other local partners - individuals, businesses, schools, faith groups and government agencies - Foodshare seeks to increase awareness of hunger in the community. Our team sorted, chopped and bagged food as well as did some light cleaning.

Dallas - Wesley Rankin Community Center
The Wesley Rankin Community Center runs a Children's Free Store where parents can "shop" for warm clothes, coats and school uniforms for their children. The Children's Free Store partners with Lorenzo de Zavala Elementary School, where 99% of students are on reduced lunch plans. Students are given one uniform a year to wear, but most families cannot afford to purchase additional uniforms. Bracewell volunteers assisted in several capacities, including serving as personal shoppers to assist parents with collecting free clothing items for their children, running the checkout, and managing the store by stocking/restocking and helping with parent questions.

Houston - Houston Food Bank
In Houston, Bracewell volunteers worked at the Houston Food Bank. Founded in 1982, the Houston Food Bank is a private, nonprofit organization that seeks food donations and distributes to local charitable programs such as church food pantries, homeless shelters, safe havens for the battered and abused as well as nutrition sites for children and the elderly . The project involved inspecting and sorting food donated by local retailers at the Food Bank's Portwall facility -a large warehouse - before it is distributed.

New York - Publicolor
The New York office gave back by working with the nonprofit Publicolor, an organization that engages at-risk students by mobilizing them into a "Paint Club" that offers commercial painting skills and colorfully re-paints the public spaces of vital but under-performing, under-resourced, NYC schools. Notably, Publicolor teaches these students the skill of commercial painting as the first step of a very organized, sequential development program that continues with painting-apprenticeships, weekly career exposure and life skills workshops, one-on-one tutoring and mentoring sessions, college prep programs, college tours, and college scholarships.

San Antonio - Habitat for Humanity
In San Antonio, Bracewell volunteers built a home with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing ministry. Habitat welcomes all people - regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity - to build and repair affordable houses for those who lack adequate shelter.

Seattle - FareStart
FareStart is a nonprofit organization that trains homeless and disadvantaged individuals for jobs in the culinary industry and also delivers meals daily to several area homeless shelters. As volunteers, Bracewell helped prepare food by peeling/chopping vegetables and assembling dishes.

Washington, D.C. - D.C. Central Kitchen
The D.C. Central Kitchen turns leftover food into millions of meals for thousands of at-risk individuals while offering nationally recognized culinary job training to once homeless and hungry adults. The mission is to use food as a tool to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities. The D.C. Central Kitchen provides breakfast, outreach, and counseling services to chronically homeless people living on the streets. The Bracewell volunteers helped by chopping and peeling vegetables, and preparing meals for distribution.

To view photos from each office, click here.