NHBA - Bar News Issue

The New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association (NHWBA) is participating in a national women’s bar pilot project led by the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations (NCWBA) and aimed at feeding hungry children.

Katherine Brown of Hoefle, Phoenix, Gormley & Roberts, P.A. and immediate past president of the NHWBA, was elected in August 2008 to serve on the Board of Directors of the NCWBA. In February of 2009, the NCWBA Board of Directors voted to launch a national food drive to address the needs of hungry children. The national drive will begin with a pilot project involving select member organizations, including those from New Hampshire, California, New York, Texas and the District of Columbia.

All food items and monetary donations collected in New Hampshire during the pilot project will benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank. According to NH Department of Education statistics, over 36,000 New Hampshire school children are eligible to receive a free or reduced-cost lunch in school, which is often the only hot meal they will have that day.

During the school year, the Food Bank provides a backpack program that discreetly sends home food and recipes to over 900 kids each month to help them make it through the weekend until they can return to school for another hot meal. During the summer, the New Hampshire Food Bank and local food pantries have the added strain of families needing more food because they cannot rely upon the school for a hot lunch for their children or back pack for the weekend. From April 20 until May 15 the NHWBA will be collecting pasta items or monetary donations for the New Hampshire Food Bank at designated drop-off locations in each county. When making a monetary donation, please make checks payable to NH Food Bank. Please send checks to the NHWBA at P.O. Box 915, Manchester, NH 03105, or deliver by hand at a drop-off center so that the NHWBA can accurately report the results of the pilot project.

Carroll County – Rebecca Oleson, Cooper, Cargill, Chant , 2935 White Mountain Highway, North Conway; 603-356-5439
Coos County - Rebecca Oleson, Cooper, Cargill, Chant, 110 Pleasant Street Berlin; 603-752-5200
Hillsborough – North – Kristin Mendoza, Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A., 111 Amherst Street, Manchester; 603-669-1000
Hillsborough – South – Cathy Shanelaris, Shanelaris & Schirch, PLLC, 35 East Pearl Street, Nashua; 603-594-8300
Merrimack – Marcie Vaughan, Shaheen & Gordon, P.A., 107 Storrs Street Concord; 603-225-7262
Merrimack – Joceline Champagne, New Hampshire Bar Center, 2 Pillsbury Street, Concord; 603-224-6942
Rockingham – Katherine Brown/Kim Memmesheimer, Hoefle, Phoenix, Gormley & Roberts, P.A., 402 State Street, Portsmouth, NH; 603-436-0666
Strafford – Sarah Cox, Burns, Bryant, Cox, Rockefeller & Durkin, P.A., 255 Washington Street, Dover, NH 03821; 603-742-2332

Any questions regarding the project can be directed to Kim Memmesheimer, Cathy Shanelaris, or Katherine Brown.

Jill Desrochers has been a member of the NH Bar since 2003 and is executive assistant to the NH Women’s Bar Association.