Menu

Lathrop Gage Offices Collect Donations to Support Joplin, Mo.

5/27/2011

KANSAS CITY (May 27, 2011) – Led by the efforts of Lydia Kirkham (Paralegal – Kansas City) and Tammy Troutner (Legal Administrative Assistant – Kansas City), Lathrop Gage attorneys and professional staff recently donated clothing, food, supplies and raised money to aid relief efforts in Joplin, Mo. following the devastating tornado.

Troutner was inspired to start a collections effort throughout her community and the firm due to the close proximity of the tornado – Joplin is approximately three hours from Kansas City and Troutner’s residence in Kearney, Mo. She and her husband are collecting supplies and asking for donations to load up their personal truck and a donated semi-truck from her husband’s employer, Terminal Consolidation Kansas City Piggyback.

For Kirkham the destruction hit especially close to home as Joplin is where she grew up, and where her mother and many friends still reside. After beginning collecting donations and initiating Joplin relief aide within the firm Sunday evening, she heard about Troutner’s efforts and teamed up, creating a firm-wide jeans day for Joplin asking all of the offices for donations. On Thursday employees of the Kansas City office brought clothes, canned goods, pet food, diapers, cleaning supplies and more to help fill Troutner’s personal truck and the donated semi. Troutner and her husband will be driving the trucks to Joplin Saturday morning and all of the supplies will be donated to College Heights Distribution Center through the Christian Church and The Bridge.

Paralegal Joni Pflumm (Real Estate – Overland Park) became involved through her Rotary club when she heard that several other Rotary clubs in the area were organizing a clean up group to go to Joplin. She rallied 25 friends and family members to join the group of approximately 75 volunteers representing Rotary District 5710. The group restored a public park, in the hopes that families could use it during for Fourth of July festivities, and aided with the clean up of two houses in close proximity to the park area. The group, which included Lathrop Gage partner Pete Heaven (Real Estate – Overland Park), took a brief break to have the first cookout at the park. 

Being only an hour and half east of Joplin, the Springfield office began efforts of its own, collecting for family and friends of employees who were affected by the tornado. They collected childcare, food and personal hygiene items and began an initiative for people to adopt families who were in need of assistance.

Total partner and staff donations from the firm were $6,282. In addition, CEO Joel Voran announced that the firm would be donating $2,000, bringing the total to $8,282 to be donated to the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.

About Lathrop Gage LLP:
A full-service law firm, Lathrop Gage LLP has more than 320 attorneys in 12 offices nationwide – from Los Angeles to New York. In 2010, Chambers USA ranked Lathrop Gage’s corporate, environmental, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and transportation teams among the best in their regions. For more information, visit www.lathropgage.com.