PUBLISHED:April 10, 2008

Duke Law community participates in Dedicated to Durham

April 10, 2008 — More than 90 members of the Duke Law community spent last Friday afternoon volunteering with local nonprofit agencies through Dedicated to Durham, the Law School’s semi-annual event encouraging community involvement and volunteerism. Groups spread out across the city, performing numerous tasks that included: creating hiking trails at Eno River State Park, sorting sweet potatoes at the Durham Food Bank, and assisting elderly individuals with housework through A Helping Hand.

Jessica Rivera ’09 said that although her assignment — sorting potatoes the Food Bank — was not a glamorous task, the experience was eye-opening. “I had no idea that 400,000 people in the [Food Bank’s service] area go hungry on a daily basis,” she said. “I also did not realize how the drought had affected poor people's ability to obtain fresh produce.”

Event organizer and newly elected Duke Bar Association Community Service Chair Matt Lipsky ’09 said that he believes “Dedicated to Durham is an important event because as members of the Durham community and as lawyers it's our obligation to give back to those in need of assistance.

“Dedicated to Durham [also] instills a community service spirit among the Duke Law community such that people continue engaging in pro-bono and volunteer work throughout the year,” Lipsky said. As community service chair, he will continue to organize volunteering opportunities throughout the year such as this week’s service event with World Relief, a group that resettles immigrant families in the U.S.

Dedicated to Durham was founded in 1995 by Professor Jonathan Wiener, the William R. and Thomas L. Perkins Professor of Law, and was sponsored this year by King & Spalding.