Alumna Leads Chapman to Top Award in “Food from the Bar” Fundraising Campaign
July 20, 2017
Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law recently received the top fundraiser award from Food From The Bar Orange County for its alumni participation in the organization’s inaugural campaign to assist Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.
Alumna Megan A. Moghtaderi (JD ’16), a member of the Orange County branch’s steering committee who organized the Chapman alumni group, accepted the award at a ceremony late last month. Food From The Bar is a month-long, competitive food and fundraising drive intended to inspire a healthy competition in the legal community to help raise support for summer months when children on school lunch assistance programs do not have accessible resources. The Orange County branch of the Food From The Bar campaign, which ran from May 1 to June 2, brought together the legal community to raise food donations and funds for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.
By the end of the campaign, Chapman alumni raised more than $10,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. The total campaign donations reached $34,605 and 5,478 pounds of food donated, which Moghtaderi said would provide 108,380 meals. “It was great to create this opportunity for Chapman alumni to unite on something that is so beneficial for the community,” she said.
Food From The Bar was founded in San Francisco and has provided food for more than 23 million meals since its inception. Moghtaderi joined with local attorneys last year to start an Orange County branch with Second Harvest Food Bank. Since then, the branch has received support from the Orange County Bar Association and the Orange County Women Lawyers Association, among others.
“It’s a really fun and different way for the legal community to build camaraderie in a healthy competition while benefitting the community at large,” she said.
Moghtaderi is an associate attorney at Law & Stein, LLP in Irvine, where she specializes in estate planning and trust litigation. In addition to her work with Food from the Bar, she is involved in several OCBA sections and recently formed a networking group for young probate attorneys as a way to build camaraderie among newer local attorneys.