Local offices of Paul Hastings and McGuireWoods led the pack Monday afternoon raising funds for the Atlanta Community Food Bank as part of the Georgia Legal Food Frenzy.

The firms each had raised $1,450 by 3:51 p.m., setting the pace for dozens of law firms and legal organizations competing for food banks around the state. The efforts for the Atlanta Food Bank had collected $15,935, or 5 percent of the $300,000 goal for the the two-week event.

The other firms in the lead pack on Monday were:

• Parker Poe, $1,000;
• Troutman Sanders, $860;
• Lueder, Larkin & Hunter, $745;
• Chilivis Cochran Larkins & Bever, $595;
• Arnall Golden Gregory, $575;
• Polsinelli, $500;
• Hunton Andrews Kurth, $500; and
• Page Perry, $500.

The event occurs at this time of year so that food banks can fill their coffers for summer, when parents of the 60 percent of Georgia children who rely free and reduced-cost meals at school have to look elsewhere for help. One in five children in the state is “food insecure,” meaning they don't know when they will receive their next meal.

Attorney General Chris Carr, who co-sponsors the event with the State Bar of Georgia's Young Lawyers Division and the Georgia Food Banks Association, said Monday that over the last seven years, the competition has raised the equivalent of 7.9 million meals worth of food and funds.

He has challenged lawyers to donate the cost of one billable hour—$250—to the campaign.

Teams can still get started by going to http://galegalfoodfrenzy.org/sign-up/. (Readers who want to support the food banks but aren't on a team are welcome to donate to the Daily Report's team.)