VLJ's Summer Soiree Raises $35,000

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Augustine Ahiabor

Bershad Communications Fellow
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
(973) 233-5724

Email: aahiabor@vljnj.org

Cathy Keenan

Executive Director
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
(973) 645-1951, ext.101

Email: ckeenan@vljnj.org

Newark, NJ, June 25, 2021 — Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) is pleased to share that on June 23rd, the organization held its annual Summer Soiree. After shifting to a completely virtual service model last year, the Summer Soiree was VLJ’s first in-person event since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 100 attorneys and friends gathered to celebrate VLJ’s work to provide free legal services to those in need and to raise over $35,000 for the organization.

Hosted by the Generation Now Committee, VLJ’s young professionals board, the event featured speeches from VLJ’s Executive Director Cathy Keenan and sponsor Stacey Slater of Pro Bono Strategies. Stefanie, a former VLJ client, also shared her story: Her neurodivergent son’s needs were not being met in a virtual setting, and he was falling behind in school. VLJ took her case and connected her with volunteer attorney Robyn Wapner, who donated over 120 hours to help Stefanie and reach a favorable outcome for her son. Stefanie encouraged the attorneys present to volunteer with VLJ, saying, “I do hope that many of you join VLJ’s notable mission and vision; it really is a life changing organization.”

Michael Griffinger, an Emeritus Board Member at VLJ and Partner at Gibbons, P.C. hosted the organization at the Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell. VLJ’s Development Director Jaclyn Kramer says, “We are so grateful to Michael for his years of dedicated commitment to VLJ. Not only did he help co-found the organization 20 years ago, but he has been an ardent supporter of legal aid and VLJ since – donating his time, talent, and treasure to ensure that our organization can help as many people as possible.”

VLJ gives special thanks to our title sponsor, Pro Bono Strategies; our underwriters David Bershad and Michael Griffinger; and our sponsors: AT&T; Counsel Press; Duane Morris; George Holland; McCarter & English; Peapack-Gladstone Bank; Price, Meese, Shulman & D’Arminio; Prudential, RBC Wealth Management, and Veritext. 

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About Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
VLJ is an award-winning, comprehensive legal services program based in Newark, NJ, with a statewide reach. VLJ's mission is to improve the lives of economically disadvantaged and at-risk adults, children, and families in New Jersey by empowering them with the tools, advice, and pro bono representation to obtain fair and equal treatment within the legal system. The Newark-based organization ensures fair access to the legal system through partnerships with corporations and hundreds of volunteer attorneys. Each year, VLJ’s work impacts more than 3,600 people—including veterans, children, tenants, families, and victims of human trafficking—through 10 pro bono programs. To learn more, please visit www.vljnj.org.

TOGETHER IN JUSTICE

June 3, 2020

Dear VLJ Friends:

All of us are reeling from the callous and senseless murder of George Floyd last week. As another name is added to the long and growing list of Black people killed by police brutality in this country, VLJ echoes the call for an end to the recurring violence against African Americans and other communities of color. Black lives matter.

Separately, we must also examine the policies and systems that have marginalized African Americans and other people of color in our country. Much of this institutional racism is the legacy of slavery and legally-sanctioned segregation in America. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of the clients VLJ serves are people of color. This is not a coincidence, as hundreds of years of racial inequality has led to and kept communities of color in poverty. All of VLJ’s clients are poor, and that poverty brings with it housing instability, financial insecurity, educational inequality, unemployment, and a perpetual state of crisis.

We must insist that all police protect all of our fellow citizens and that police brutality not be tolerated in any community. Certainly, police must stop killing unarmed Black men and women, particularly in the course of responding to traffic and other minor offenses. We must demand more of our political leaders, so they effectuate policies that address the long-term systemic racism plaguing our nation. It is time for all of us to stand together and fight for justice.

While VLJ’s advocates and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that our clients’ voices are heard in the civil legal system, we can and must do more to fight against the systemic racism and inequity that leads to senseless deaths and keeps our neighbors of color in poverty. There must be a better pathway to justice. This is a problem for all of us. Today we are recommitting ourselves to lifting and listening to Black and other marginalized voices and identifying additional actions so all of us can fight for a more just world. A conversation is important, but real solutions require action in our daily thoughts and in our individual spheres of influence. Ask yourself: when you have a moment to act, will you? Racism should have no safe harbor.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Together in justice,