Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation Supports Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund
Sharing could be considered an overused word today. We talk about the “sharing economy” when we really mean individuals selling services to other individuals. We use the word “sharing” to describe communicating our thoughts, feelings and news to others through social media.
But at Kazan Law, we firmly believe in the traditional meaning of the word sharing – to give a portion of what you have to others. That is why we are proud to be a major contributor to the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund through the Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation this year and every year.
Our firm’s foundation has made our annual $20,000 donation to this very worthwhile wonderful cause. We are proud to see that we are the only law firm donating at this level.
Sharing Locally Through the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund
Sharing locally is important to us as we consider all the frightening things going on in the world around us. There may not be anything most of us can do to impact global events but we can make a difference for someone who needs help right in our own community.
Since 1986, the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund has raised more than $98 million to help thousands of Bay Area families. The Fund provides one-time grants to help families in crisis so they can pay for housing and emergency needs. Through a network of more than 120 community service agencies, the Fund works to identify families in need and provide short-term, critical assistance grants.
The people whom the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund provides temporary assistance to live in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties. We are grateful for the opportunity the Season of Sharing Fund gives us to help our neighbors.
Here are three additional reasons why we choose the Season of Sharing Fund for our annual holiday sharing:
- The Fund’s overhead costs are covered by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the San Francisco Chronicle. So 100 percent of the money raised goes directly to those who need it.
- The Fund helps families in many ways, including paying the rent so people are not evicted, covering a security deposit to help a family transition out of a homeless shelter, or purchasing a wheelchair or other essential medical equipment that people couldn’t otherwise afford.
- The Fund supports food banks and distributes nearly $1 million each year to assist individuals and families at risk for going hungry.
Mesothelioma Law Practice Cultivates Compassion
For over 40 years, Kazan Law has won justice for victims of asbestos exposure and their families. Through no fault of their own, our clients are stricken with diseases such as mesothelioma that will cause them great suffering and premature death. Yet in spite of everything, they have been some of the kindest warmest people we have ever known.
Although we are the legal experts who have helped them, they have helped us too. Our mesothelioma law practice constantly cultivates compassion for others in all of us who work here. We have learned that if you have your health, you are fortunate. If you have your health and are doing well, you are even more fortunate. And if you have your health and are doing well by helping others as we are able to do at Kazan Law then you are truly among the most fortunate and owe it to the world to share – to give to others and do so with generosity.
Sharing Is Important All Year Long
Sharing rightfully takes center stage during the holiday season. Everyone focuses for a short time on giving gifts and cheerful seasonal greetings to the people in their lives – family, friends and colleagues. Happily, many people also realize that at this time of year, sharing the joys of the season extends to those in need.
In a recent study, the Center on Philanthropy found that most charitable organizations in the United States receive over half of their contributions during the last few months of the year.
At Kazan Law, our focus in our practice of helping those in need has inspired us to making sharing something we actively do all year long. We created the Kazan McClain Partner’s Foundation to identify and facilitate sharing on an ongoing basis on behalf of all us at Kazan Law.
Over the last 20 years our foundation has given over $20 million in grants to a diverse list of community and civic organizations. This includes organizations that help immigrants, prisoners, and students from low-income backgrounds. We also share the legal expertise of our staff by providing pro bono services to state legislative measures to protect the health and safety of workers and to refugees fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries.
With our keen awareness of the tragedy of mesothelioma, we have made the quest for better treatment a focus of our sharing as well. Our foundation has provided over $6 million for mesothelioma research. This is one way we can help give back to the community of mesothelioma patients and families whose rights we fight for as asbestos litigation attorneys.
All of us at Kazan Law wish you a happy, safe and healthy holiday.