The Importance of Giving Back

Hopefully, we all take a moment from time to time to ask ourselves how we as individuals can make a difference. At this time of universal great need, it is more important than ever for each of us to give back. The same is true of professionals within the legal field to give back to the community in which we serve. The attorneys and staff at ShounBach are involved in many pro bono and philanthropic outreaches throughout the year.

The paralegals and legal assistants at ShounBach have volunteered within the Fairfax community in many capacities, such as:

• Providing pro bono assistance through Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV)
• Contributing to and assembling backpacks with school supplies for preschool and school-aged residents and transitional residents of Mondloch House II, Fairfax County’s largest family-based homeless shelter (through the Fairfax Bar Association Paralegal Section’s joint effort with the Fairfax Law Foundation)
• Purchasing school supplies for children of at-risk families who are wait-listed by Mondloch House II due to spacing restraints
• Contributing to and assembling books and gifts of personal items to at-risk youth at the Fairfax County Girls’ and Boys’ Probation Houses (through the Fairfax Bar Association Paralegal Section’s joint effort with the Fairfax Law Foundation)
• Assisting with mock trials and plays through the Fairfax Bar Association’s Law-Related Education Committee (at area schools and during Fairfax’s annual Chocolate Lovers’ Festival)
• Attending Foreclosure Workshops to assist individuals who face losing their homes
• Notarizing documents for the Wills on Wheels and Wills for Heroes projects, efforts established through the Fairfax Bar Association and LSNV
• Participation in the Fairfax Bar Association’s 5k Run for Justice
• Participation in Fannie Mae’s Walk for the Homeless
• Contributing to, collecting and delivering food to the Capital Area Food Bank (through the Fairfax Bar Association Paralegal Section’s annual food drive, a joint effort with the Fairfax Law Foundation)

In addition to overlapping in many respects with the outreach efforts set forth above, the attorneys at ShounBach have volunteered and contributed to the community in many additional ways, such as:[

• Assuming responsibility for cases on a pro bono basis
• Speaking and providing assistance through local women’s shelters
• Administering the newly-established Wills for Heroes program for benefit of Fairfax County first responders (firefighters, EMTs, etc.)
• Providing firm donations to charities such as: Fairfax Law Foundation; Fairfax County Animal Shelter; American Cancer and Lymphoma Society; Jazz4Justice; Chipping in To End Domestic Violence; Western Fairfax Christian Ministries’ Adopt-A-Family holiday program; Little League sports sponsorships; memorial donations, etc.
• Assumption of leadership roles and responsibilities with the Fairfax Law Foundation
• Serving on community boards and neighborhood watches
• Participating in mentoring and shadowing programs with local youth and law students
• Speaking to and educating at-risk youth in The Devonshire program through the Fairfax Law Foundation

There is little else more gratifying than serving others. With only a modest donation of time and money, there are fewer hungry families in the District of Columbia/ Metropolitan area, fewer homeless, indigent and/or battered parents whose children must go without necessary school supplies or holiday gifts, and our local youth is assured that their future well-being is of genuine concern to others.

As individuals and as a firm, the attorneys and staff at ShounBach will continue to seek out ways in which we may enrich the lives of our fellow man.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

~Winston Churchill