Since our first day at Bilzin Sumberg, we have been told how important it is for the firm to be actively involved in the community. With that in mind, last Friday, we took a break from our usual Friday schedules which usually entail wrapping up our pending assignments and catching lunch with some of the attorneys, to partake in our first community service event of the summer at Feeding South Florida. Feeding South Florida is a local food bank which serves all of South Florida. While this was our first community service event of the summer, this is an event that Bilzin Sumberg participates in yearly.
While most community service events usually begin by assigning tasks, this one began a little differently. Specifically, we were reminded as to why we were volunteering at FSF on a Friday morning — that is, hunger remains a significant problem in South Florida. This is such a severe problem that one in five children are food insecure. Statistics such as this one really helped put what we were about to do into perspective. In addition, we were also given a goal as to the number of meals our work would translate into. (33,000-ish meals to be exact!) With a purpose and a goal in mind, we were ready to start volunteering!
Our task as a group was to look at food expiration labels and determine whether something was still edible. Did you know that most food is still edible far beyond its expiration date? I’m talking like a year past its expiration date! While some of us were shocked by this information (aka Brian and I), it seems as though some of us have been testing expiration dates for years (aka Sofia). Besides expiration dates, we were shocked to find food items we had never even heard of before!
At the end of the event, not only did we gain a plethora of knowledge about food, but most importantly, we met our meal goal! It was so rewarding to see our work translate into meals for people who suffer from food insecurity. I speak for my fellow Summer Associates and I when I say that we look forward to again volunteering in the community as part of the firm’s broader mission to better immerse itself into the community.