Staff reports | Community updates
Rafi Law Group has completed its second annual Rafi’s Hope Summer of Service, a 12-week volunteer initiative that raised $40,000 and generated 523 hours of community service across the Valley, Yuma and Tucson.
The program ran from 9 a.m. Monday, June 2 to 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 and focused on supporting children, families and communities through partnerships with 12 nonprofit organizations, according to a press release.
“Our commitment to Arizona extends far beyond the courtroom,” said Rich Yado, chair of Rafi’s Hope. “The Summer of Service represents our firm’s dedication to giving back to the communities we serve, and we’re proud of the meaningful impact our team was able to make alongside these incredible organizations.”
Key areas of impact included:
•Food security: Volunteers packed more than 1,400 emergency food boxes at St. Mary’s Food Bank, prepared over 25,000 meals at Feed My Starving Children and assembled 750 food boxes at Tucson Community Food Bank.
•Back-to-school support: The firm helped distribute more than 2,000 backpacks at the Yuma Back to School Rodeo and packed over 3,000 backpacks for Valleywise Health’s drive across eight locations.
•Family and housing services: Volunteers assisted with transitional housing at CASS, sorted clothing and served meals at UMOM, and created birthday packages for foster children through The Foster Alliance.
•Healthcare and emergency relief: The team baked treats for families at Ryan House, assembled more than 1,000 emergency heat relief kits with Valley of the Sun United Way and served meals at St. Vincent de Paul.
The initiative concluded with participation in the national Sept. 11 Day of Service at ASU’s Mullett Arena, where volunteers packed thousands of meals in honor of the day.
“Each organization we partnered with is making a real difference in Arizona, and we were honored to support their missions,” Mr. Yado said. “From addressing food insecurity to supporting educational needs and emergency relief, these collaborations allowed us to contribute to solutions for some of our community’s most pressing challenges.”
