YLD awards $40,000 in grants to young lawyer organizations.

Twenty-six affiliates presented projects and more than $40,000 in grants were distributed at the Bar Young Lawyer Division's recent Affiliate Outreach Conference.

Top honors went to young lawyer groups from Hillsborough, Manatee, and Indian River counties for their projects to help the community or profession.

YLD President Scott Atwood, during his report at a recent Bar Board of Governors meeting, reported that the division was very pleased with this year's conference, noting the large number of affiliates who attended, including three new local young lawyer organizations.

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The Hillsborough County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division received the President's Award designation for its Attorney ad Litem Project. The brainchild of Judge Ashley Moody, herself a young lawyer, the project assigns a volunteer lawyer to provide parental-like support and guidance to juveniles charged with criminal offenses whose parents cannot or will not be present at the child's criminal proceedings.

The Outstanding Public Service Award designation was awarded to the Manatee County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division--one of the new affiliates at the conference--for its Children's Waiting Area Project. This will fund, furnish, supply and maintain a safe and friendly children's waiting area in the new Manatee County Judicial Center, which is scheduled for completion in June 2008. The Manatee County YLD developed this project in response to local budget cuts which eliminated the funding necessary to provide a comfortable area for children who are often victims or unwilling participants in courthouse proceedings.

The Indian River County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division also received the Outstanding Public Service Award designation for its Children's Home Society Project. This program provides foster children who are "aging out" of the foster system on their 18th birthdays with the basic legal knowledge, life skills, and materials necessary to begin their lives on their own. The Indian River YLD will furnish presentations, interactive workshops, and basic supply care packages to foster children who are about to leave the system.

Other awards presented include:

* The Outstanding Member Service Project awarded to the Sarasota County Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division for their "Salary Survey" project. The confidential survey aimed at helping members identify salary levels and benefits in the community and to assist them with negotiating their own compensation levels.

* The outstanding Public Service Project Award went to the Jacksonville Bar Association Young Lawyers' Section for its "Run for Cover." This 5K race, which has become an annual event, benefits the North Florida Skin Cancer Foundation and is designed to increase awareness of the seriousness of skin cancer and the need for prevention and early detection. Atwood told the Bar board that the free screening for race participants found several early cases of skin cancer.

* The Affiliate of the Year was awarded to the Orange County Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section based upon their demonstrated dedication to providing service to the community, to the profession, to YLS families, and to its members. The award recognized this YLS' variety and number of quality projects which contributed both to the local bar and the community.

Held in St. Petersburg at the same time as the annual Gasparilla Festival, the conference featured a pirate theme for its social events.

Aside from the affiliate outreach awards, the conference also had a President's Roundtable, led by YLD President-elect Jewel Cole. One member of each affiliate was invited to participate in an interactive discussion among state leaders. Those not attending roundtable participated in either the Diversity Seminar--"Examining Cultural and Sensitivity Issues from the Bench and in the Big Firm Environment," hosted by YLD Diversity Chair Christina A. McKinnon or the Law School Roundtable, hosted by YLD Law School Chair Sean Desmond.

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YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION Affiliate Outreach Chair and Fifth Circuit YLD Board of Governors Representative Renee Thompson recently presented a YLD AOC grant award at the Marion County Bar luncheon to Marion County Young Lawyers Section for its project "Wills for Heroes," which provides simple wills free of cost to local first responders. Pictured from the left are Thompson, YLS President Tommy Thompson, Ocala Police Chief Sam Williams--whose department will be the first to benefit from this program--and YLS board member Jeremy Powers.

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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY YLD Co-Chair Aaron Johnson, from the left, and Jennifer Peshke, receive a $5,000 grant award from John Stewart, the 19th Circuit representative on the Bar's Board of Governors for their division's Children's Home Society Project, which received the Outstanding Public Service Award designation at Young Lawyers Division's Affiliate Out Reach Conference.