Bringing law professionals together with a friendly food drive competition
A local criminology student at Arizona State University and St. Vincent de Paul intern, Johnny Galvez has found the perfect intersection of his future profession—law—and his service at SVdP: A new campaign called Food From the Bar, which pits local law firms and bar associations against one another to collect the most food. It also is a great opportunity for Johnny to grow and make connections that will help him change the world after he graduates and enters the workforce, all while serving his community and feeding his hungry neighbors.
Johnny spent many years volunteering at SVdP in high school as a part of his National Honor Society community service. When he graduated and learned of SVdP's LIA Fellowship and knew that it would be an amazing opportunity to learn and grow his servant leadership skills. He was a fellow for two semesters in SVdP's community drives department, and has been an intern for two more.
Having learned the lay of the land, Johnny dedicated his summer to bringing more of his personal interest and knowledge as a future law student into his internship work. When he heard about a previous community drive idea with a legal bent to it (which had been scrapped early in the COVID pandemic), he knew it would be the perfect project for him.
That’s how he started SVdP’s Food From the Bar competition. Originally inspired by a similar drive from Marin County Food Bank, the drive is a friendly competition between local bar associations and law firms to see which can raise the most food. Under Johnny's leadership and with the help of SVdP colleagues and connections, a handful of bar associations have already signed up to compete this year. In total, they are aiming to collect over 20,000 pounds of food, including both food and monetary donations.
“The food itself goes down to our Food Reclamation Center, and then from there, it goes to different conferences [groups of Vincentian volunteers who operate SVdP food pantries out of local neighborhood Catholic churches], then put into food boxes, and then out to our families in the community,” Johnny says.
To some, running a drive competition like this might be a job or a fun activity to take up; but to Johnny, it has more significance. Earlier in his life, Johnny's family was struggling, and they had to live with his grandmother. At times, they needed help from services similar to what SVdP provides, like going to a local food bank.
"It resonates with me that I'm the one helping instead of receiving the help," he says.
Food From the Bar officially runs throughout the month of August. Already, those who joined the effort early enjoyed a kick-off event in mid-July to spread the word and get support. “It went amazing,” Johnny says.
He is also already learning and getting advice from some of the connections he's made through the drive.
“Getting to know these people, it's served as a big resource,” Johnny says. “I’ll say, ‘Hey, I'm trying to go into this field you were in, what can I do?’ You get a real world perspective.”
He's also proud that Food From the Bar gives lawyers and other law professionals an opportunity to give back to their communities in a more direct way.
"So many of these people already help their community, either with legal aid or giving legal advice," Johnny says. "Food From the Bar gives them the chance to give in a new way that's direct and hands on."
They’ve seen so much success around the drive already (again, ahead of its start) that SVdP's community drives department expects it to repeat annually going forward. That’s an exciting legacy for someone not yet out of college.
Of course, this isn’t the end of Johnny’s story. He’s still got a couple of years of his undergraduate studies left, and then law school after that. Inspired by all he’s learned from his Arizona history and government classes, he wants to become a state prosecutor to serve his home and community.
SVdP couldn’t be more proud of Johnny, and it can't wait to see where the future takes him.
