Attorneys, judges and guests gathered at the Grand Harbor Golf Club for the annual Indian River County Bar Association holiday party, showing a cohesiveness and generosity that contradicted their often maligned reputation. Guests showed up bearing toys for children and food for those in need and as Peggy Lyons, Bar Association President noted, theirs is a particularly active association whose members frequently donate time and services to the community.
In addition to participation by individual attorneys, she also gave credit to the Young Lawyers Division, co-chaired by Doug Vitunac and Jeff Pegler and to the IRC Lawyers Auxiliary, formed in 2004 by Ann Catchick.
The Young Lawyers Division is one of the fastest growing segments of the Bar Association. YLD members gather at lunch meetings throughout the year and are directed to their various projects through what they term the “big bar.” The luncheons are a great way to network with their peers and also with the judges and other experienced attorneys who are invited as guest speakers.
In January, Vitunac and Pegler will participate in the Florida Bar’s Affiliate Outreach Conference, attended by young lawyers from all over Florida, where they will be applying for a grant for funds to purchase English/Spanish children’s books. The goal is to donate the books to the Head Start Program on 41st Street and to Fellsmere Elementary, both of which have high Spanish speaking populations.
“One of the Head Start teachers came up with the idea several months ago,” Vitunac explained. “Funding for their little library was recently cut and they’re in desperate need. This would help pick up some of that slack. Parents are encouraged to read to the children and they believe these types of books could generate more reading time.”
They also intend to hold a reading day, where some of the YLD members would read from the books to the children.
The YLD accumulated more than 125 food items to benefit The Source through canned food drives at the November Bar Association luncheon and this holiday party. During Law Week, they schedule and implement Ask a Lawyer events, where members of the public can get free legal advice, and earlier this year they presented a Wills on Wheels Program at the Indian River County Courthouse, where they provided free simple wills to the public.
Ann Catchick, wife of attorney Jim Catchick, had been president of an auxiliary in Michigan and founded this auxiliary because there wasn’t one; in fact there isn’t another auxiliary in all of Florida. Its 22 members are spouses of Bar Association members and facilitate various undertakings, including the holiday party, which was co-chaired by Becky Rossway and Carol Kanarek.
One of the Auxiliary’s major endeavors has been their Tools to Learn School Supply Project. This past summer they rallied support from Bar Association members and purchased $6,000 worth of school supplies which were donated to Vero Beach Elementary, Thompson Magnet School, Highlands Elementary, Dodgertown Elementary, and Fellsmere Elementary.
Each year the Auxiliary also collects toys for area children; the large assortment of toys collected at the holiday party will be donated to Childcare Resources. And, at a separate Auxiliary holiday luncheon, the group furnished a host of items for the nine girls who are residents of the Children’s Home Society’s Baines Hall.
“We had a list of things the girls wanted and we tried to get as many things as possible. They mostly wanted items to make their rooms their own,” explained Catchick.
During Law Week in the spring, they partner with the Bar to place attorneys in classrooms, using the American Bar Association’s National Law Day theme. Last year attorneys visited 89 local classrooms during Law Week.
“I have a friend from Grand Rapids who visits auxiliaries all over the country. She was amazed when I told her that we don’t have any funding other than from the attorneys. They’re so supportive; if we need money for charities, they just ask how much we need,” said Catchick. {igallery 119}
