Georgia Legal Food Frenzy logo. (Courtesy photo)

By 3 p.m. Monday, the Georgia legal community had raised $371,919 for food banks around the state, but the need for nourishment will remain high.

Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center, told the Georgia Recorder last week that, even though the rate of job losses is slowing—with Georgia around 1.1 million since the beginning of COVID-19 social distancing—the number of jobless will continue to increase, especially as gig workers and independent contractors who were not previously eligible for benefits apply.

Food banks supported by the Georgia Legal Food Frenzy turn donations efficiently into meals—with every $1 representing four meals. That means the legal community has purchased nearly 1.5 million meals for hungry Georgians so far. But even before the pandemic, food banks estimated about 1.5 million Georgians didn't have enough food.

"The need is greater than ever," said state Attorney General Chris Carr, who sponsors the Food Frenzy along with the State Bar Young Lawyers Division and the Georgia Food Bank Association. "Let's find that next person to help us out."

The top teams searching high and low for more donors are, according to the Food Frenzy leaderboard:

• Georgia Tech Office of the General Counsel, $19,493.75;
• Alston & Bird, $13,202.90;
• Habachy Law, $12,441;
• Troutman Sanders$11,383.35;
• Kilpatrick Townsend-Atlanta Office, $9,497.05;
• Office of the Attorney General, $8,592.75;
• Taylor English Duma, $8,550.50;
• BakerHostetler, $8,086.25;
• King & Spalding, $7,829; and
• Johnson & Ward, $7,750.

Carr has urged lawyers to donate the cost of one billable hour to the cause.

The Food Frenzy ends on Friday. Anyone wishing to donate via the Daily Report team can do so at https://www.classy.org/team/293976.