Endowment Gifts Noted

The North Carolina Bar Association Foundation announces its most recent endowment grants approved on June 19, 2014, at the Board of Directors meeting in Wilmington.

The NCBA Foundation Endowment supports Wills for Heroes.

The NCBA Foundation Endowment supports Wills for Heroes.

A total of 20 grants for July-December 2014 were approved in the amount of $134,107 including 15 statewide and five local/regional grants.

This grant cycle includes support for one judicial project, eight legal services projects, one law school clinic, three student mock trial competitions, two scholarship programs; two local projects in Raleigh and one each in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Turkey, N.C.

All of the organizations and their projects are listed below with dollar amounts for each grant in parenthesis.

The purposes of the NCBA Foundation Endowment are:

To build respect for and understanding of the law;
To support the delivery of legal services to eligible indigent communities;  
To support legally related community service projects;
To study, improve and facilitate the administration of justice; and
To enhance the professional competence of lawyers

Semi-annual grants make possible dozens of statewide bar projects and the legally related service/educational projects of many bar-affiliated, non-profit organizations. The Endowment is the philanthropic workhorse of the NCBA Foundation and the NCBA. Since 1988, 596 endowment grants totaling more than $4.7 million have been awarded.

Statewide Grants

Judicial Forum for Appellate Candidates: In conjunction with UNC TV, the Bar Association’s Open Courts Initiative Committee will host judicial forum to provide the citizens of North Carolina with more information about those candidates running for judicial office at the appellate level. ($8,000)

New AOC Custody Mediations Orientation Video: The N.C. Custody Mediation and Visitation Program seeks to create an up-to-date orientation video to explain the process to parents who must attend court-ordered custody mediation. ($4,000)

YLD Senior Citizens Handbook: In collaboration with the NCBA’s Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law and Elder & Special Needs Law sections, the 60-page Senior Citizens Handbook must be updated due to recent changes in the laws affecting seniors. ($15,000)

YLD Law Week/Liberty Bell Award: Hosts two regional Moot Court competitions, a final competition in Raleigh at the Supreme Court, multiple contests for grade school students, chooses a Liberty Bell Award recipient and organizes and hosts the annual Law Day Luncheon. ($12,000)

Carolina Center for Civic Education – National High School Mock Trial Championship: Hosting the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Raleigh in May 2015. The NHSMTC is an annual event hosted by a different state that supports mock trial programs as a part of civic education for students. ($10,000)

Legal Access Bridge – New Attorney Initiative: Implementation of the program will deepen the practical skills and experience of our emerging North Carolina attorneys while delivering legal services that meet underserved needs of the public. ($20,000)

Dr. I. Beverly Lake Public Service Award: The NCBA’s highest public service honor is awarded at the NCBA Annual Meeting in June. The restricted grant funds will be used to award an honorarium in the honoree’s name to his or her choice of select NCBA programs to help further their mission. ($5,296)

YLD Bar Exam Meet and Greet: The event consists of providing examinees with refreshments and congratulations on completing the exam on behalf of the NCBA. It builds goodwill for the NCBA/YLD to encourage participation in the YLD’s community service projects after licensure. ($1,500)

YLD Bar Exam Workshop: The Bar Exam Workshops support North Carolina bar exam applicants as they study for the bar exam. Applicants learn strategies to help them tackle the bar exam essay questions and receive general information about exam, including structure, and study scheduling. ($1,000)

LANC Legal Helpline: Support is needed for the LANC staff of the Legal Helpline in support of the NCBA Lawyer on the Line pro bono volunteer project. This project helps LANC expand the number of clients that are able to access direct legal services through their statewide, toll-free number. ($20,000)

YLD Project Grace Legal Clinics: Project Grace is a legal clinic to draft health care powers of attorney and living wills for the elderly and those of limited resources. ($4,000)

NC LEAP Inventor Assistance Program: In partnership with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, NC LEAP is expanding to include IAP, designed to assist qualified inventors and small businesses to the services of a registered patent professional. ($2,500)

YLD Wills for Heroes: Provides essential estate planning documents, free of charge, to first responders and their spouses, partners, and significant others across the state of N.C. Volunteer attorneys prepare wills, living wills, durable powers of attorney and health care powers of attorneys. ($2,500)

North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence – Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Project: The purpose of the project is to increase access to vital legal support and representation for domestic violence survivors in North Carolina by pro-bono attorneys. ($5,000)

YLD Legal Feeding Frenzy & Food Banks of N.C.: A three-week food and fund drive competition among all North Carolina law-related organizations to see which team can raise the most pounds of food per employee to benefit local Feeding America Food Banks. ($500)

Local/Regional Grants

Law-Related Education – Camp Confidence: Camp Confidence in partnership with Cary Police Department, Justice Iredell Middle School Mock Trial Regional Tournaments and Sweet 16 Awards Reception. ($6,000)

Campbell University Law School Senior Law Clinic: The Senior Law Clinic provides free legal services on a variety of civil matters to persons with low incomes who are age 60 or over. ($1,000)

Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina: Provides advocacy and representation to vulnerable children embroiled in high conflict custody or domestic violence cases. The CLC attorneys are court appointed by judges who need accurate, thorough investigated reports as they make decisions. ($12,811)

Council for Children’s Rights – Custody Advocacy Program: Pro-bono lawyers appointed by Family Court judges to represent the best interests of children in difficult custody cases. ($2,000)

Project Outreach, Inc. – Resolving Conflicts in School: Focuses on teaching youth in grades 6-8 in rural Sampson County how the legal system works by teaching them courtroom procedures. Students with leadership ability are chosen to be trained as court officials to oversee nonviolent conflicts. ($1,000)

Direct any questions you might have about applying for grants in the future to Tom Hull, director of development for the NCBA Foundation, via e-mail or phone 919-677-0561 or 800-662-7407.