In House... In the Community - Want To Test Your Trivial Knowledge, For A Good Cause? Join Team WMACCA on Nov. 18

Always wish you could have been a contestant on Jeopardy! or Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?  Here is an opportunity to test your trivia mettle - The local affiliate of Everybody Wins! has invited WMACCA to field a six-member team for Everybody Wins! DC’s Lawyers For Literacy Trivia Challenge.  

On Tuesday, November 18, 2008, teams from a number of area law firms and at least one company will compete in five rounds of trivia and a tricky half time show. Participants will be tested on their general-knowledge trivia and a couple theme rounds. The winning team will be honored with the title of LLM, Literae Magisters (Masters of Literacy) and a trophy to proudly display in their office until next year’s challenge!  Neal Racioppo, local Quizzomaster, will be leading the event.

The event will be held at the offices of Kirkland & Ellis (1450 G Street, NW).  Kirkland & Ellis LLP will convert their mock court room into trivia central and keeps the food and drinks flowing throughout the event.  The event starts at 6:30 pm with drinks and appetizer, and the trivia contest starts at 7 pm.  

WMACCA is looking for six members to join our team.  Do you have game?  (We will be taking on teams from Kirkland & Ellis; Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP; Sidley Austin; Morrison & Foerster; White & Case; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati;  Ross, Dixon & Bell; Kilpatrick & Stockton; Weil Gotshal & Manages; and CNN - and there may be others.)  If you want to participate, please e-mail Ilene Reid (Ilene.Reid@WMACCA.com).

Everybody Wins! DC provides children’s mentoring and literacy programs to more than 4,000 students annually at 39 public elementary schools in the Washington Metropolitan Area.  Everybody Wins! DC’s signature program, Power Lunch, brings professionals from the community to inner-city schools to read one-to-one on a weekly basis, instilling a love of reading and learning.  Everybody Wins! DC partners with law firms and companies, as well as employees of federal agencies (and some members of Congress) for its weekly children’s mentoring and literacy programs.  For more information about Everybody Wins! DC, click here (or go to http://www.everybodywinsdc.org/).

We still need volunteers for the following activities, as well:

GEOPLUNGE:  We encourage our members to volunteer to assist when teams from more than 50 DC public schools get together to compete in the 4th Annual GeoPlunge tournament, based on the award winning geography game developed by a local attorney. The event will be held at Columbia Heights Education Campus (formerly BellMulticultural High School), 3101 16th Street, NW, from 9:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Friday, November 21, 2008 (there is parking close by, as well as a nearby metro station).

Student, teacher, and principal feedback from past GeoPlunge tournaments has been tremendous, and several WMACCA members have already agreed to volunteer for this extremely exciting and rewarding educational, team-oriented competition that is run in a format similar to the NCAA basketball tournament.   In past years, this tournament has made tremendous difference in the lives of many children.   If you or anyone in your legal department is interested in volunteering or would like more details, please contact Alan Fishel at fishel.alan@arentfox.com or 202-857-6450.

BEST KIDS INC. -- Your Chance to Make a Real Difference in the Life of a Child:  Who mentored you? Chances are, the steady guidance and encouragement of  a caring adult helped you get where you are today.  That's what BEST Kids, Inc. seeks to provide for children in DC's abuse and neglect system.  Kids in foster care, possibly more than any other group of youth, need a consistent role model and friend in their lives.  BEST Kids recruits, trains and supports volunteer mentors to DC foster care children. A monthly peer group activity helps BEST Kids mentors and mentees bond with each other.  If you'd like to learn more about BEST Kids -- about being a mentor, sponsoring or assisting with a peer group activity, or making a donation, please visit www.bestkids.org today or contact WMACCA member & BEST Kids board member, Tracey Steiner, at tracey.steiner@nreca.org or 703-907-5847.
 

MORE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:  Read on about a slew of other opportunities for members to volunteer, including: 

• Fall 2008 – When Duty Calls pro bono veterans clinic, part III
• Fall 2008 - Street Law
  
• Fall 2008 to Spring 2009 – Habitat for Humanity
  

We are continuing our partnership with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC on the When Duty Calls clinics, assisting military veterans with the application filing process for disability claims. We will provide information about training sessions and future clinics in the near future. So far, we have had more than two dozen volunteers participate in this project.

This fall, we have a team participating in the Street Law program, working with high school students at Park View High School in Loudoun County (the most racially diverse high school in that county).  For 30 years, Street Law, Inc.'s programs and curricula have promoted knowledge of legal rights and responsibilities, engagement in the democratic process, and belief in the rule of law, among both youth and adults.  For more information about Street Law, please click here.  WMACCA Board member Andy Shipley of Northrop Grumman is spearheading this project.  If your or your legal department is interested in participating in this program, you can contact Andy to express your interest by clicking here (or e-mail him directly at andrew.shipley@ngc.com if the link does not work).

If you would like more information about any of these projects or our Community Service/Pro Bono Initiative, please contact Bob Gans, chair of this initiative, at rgans@csc.com.