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Every month, employees from the Adams and Reese Baton Rouge office volunteer their time to cook for Boys Hope Girls Hope to give the nonprofit’s a staff a night off, and these charitable efforts were featured in an article published in The Advocate in the September 11th edition.
On a recent Monday night, six boys, ages 12 to 17, and three girls were at dinner when the law firm group prepared a three-course dinner and then sat down to eat with them and their counselors. The cooks are part of the law firm’s employee volunteer program, HUGS, which stands for Hope, Understanding, Giving and Support.
Attorney Melissa Grand, who’s on the Boys Hope Girls Hope board of directors, came with her two young children, who are regular visitors at the home. Tina Marshall, who helped coordinate the law firm’s visits, said the group began coming once a month a year ago.
“Four attorneys each also do separate dinners here with their own families once a month,” she said. “It’s inspiring to see them (the home’s scholars) want to succeed,” added Marshall’s daughter, Stephanie.
Boys Hope Girls Hope, the privately funded, nonprofit, multidenominational organization, helps academically capable and motivated children in need “by providing value-centered, neighborhood homes with qualified live-in counselors who provide support, guidance and discipline,” Development Director Cindy Macha said. “Our children are provided opportunities and education in first-rate schools through college.”
Its “scholars,” as the residents are called, are expected to attend cultural and enrichment activities, help counselors with daily living tasks, participate in extracurricular activities at school and within the community, and older children are required to obtain summer jobs to begin saving for college, she said.