Tulsa Law Firm Makes Generous Donation To Community Food Bank

The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma really felt the generosity of the season Thursday.

"We threw names in a hat and said ‘Okay, this is who we're going to choose.' By a landslide, it was the community food bank," said Catherine Thompson, of Barrow and Grimm.

The downtown law firm of Barrow and Grimm has a holiday tradition of reaching out to the community.

And when employees heard about the backpack program, which provides supplemental food on weekends for needy children, the decision was an easy one.

"When you've got a 6-year-old who doesn't have proper nutrition at home, how do you face the day? How do you learn? How do you go to school and be a productive student?" Thompson said.

The firm set out collection boxes and employees came up with almost $1,200 in donations.

The partners matched their gift and now that $2,400 will be matched again by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, bringing the donation total to almost $5,000.

12/10/2012 Related Story: George Kaiser Family Foundation Pledges To Match Cash Donations To Food Bank

"Its really fun to see an idea turn into a gift to be matched and matched again. It really gives you the feeling the whole community is behind what we're doing," said Community Food Bank Executive Director Eileen Bradshaw.

Because of that community support, the backpack program is growing by leaps and bounds. Bradshaw said, in Tulsa County alone, about 5,000 children receive backpacks every week; an increase of 25 percent from last year.

"People realize that for our community to grow and prosper, our children have to grow and prosper," Bradshaw said.

The efforts of the folks at Barrow and Grimm alone will fill more than 1,300 backpacks, which is Christmas gift to all of us.

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