Record-Setting Service Day

All lines are busy at the WRAL call center.

The North Carolina Bar Association’s ninth annual 4ALL Statewide Service Day is in the books.

The record books, that is!

Operating from seven call centers across the state, 532 North Carolina lawyers volunteered to provide free legal information to 10,136 citizens on Friday, March 4, establishing records for both volunteers and calls.

“Wow!” proclaimed Sharon Robertson, co-chair of this year’s event and the Asheville call center. “We finally broke the 10,000 number.”

“You did awesome and we helped a lot of people in our community today,” added Ashley Bennington, co-chair of the event and the Greensboro call center, in an email to the volunteer leadership team. “Thanks for a great 4ALL!”

Serving this year as site chairs were Zac Lamb and Sharon Robertson (Asheville); Katherine Armstrong  and Harrison Lord (Charlotte); Adam Arthur and Ashley Bennington (Greensboro); Stephanie Crosby, Lisa Fitzpatrick and Ayanda Meachem (Greenville); Nicolette Fulton and Nan Hannah (Raleigh); Richard Klein and Ted Shipley (Wilmington); and Tripp Greason, Dustin Greene and Jennifer Lyday (Winston-Salem).

Television stations hosting call centers were WLOS News 13 in Asheville; WBTV News in Charlotte; WNCT 9 On Your Side in Greenville; and WRAL-TV5 in Raleigh. WFMY News 2 in Greensboro promoted call centers hosted by the United Way of Greater Greensboro and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in Winston-Salem. The Wilmington call center was hosted by Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog.

The Raleigh call center led the way with 4,072 calls, followed by Greensboro (1,526), Charlotte (1,354), Greenville (1,209), Asheville (1,072), Winston-Salem (545) and Wilmington (358).

The statewide service project coincides with the NCBA’s 4ALL campaign to provide civil legal aid to those who otherwise would not have access to a lawyer. It was first held in 2008 during the term of NCBA President Janet Ward Black of Greensboro.

“Thank you to everyone for all of their hard work,” said Kim Bart Mullikin, director of public service and pro bono activities for the NCBA Foundation. “It was a long but very productive day in which we provided a lot of terrific service to many people across the state.”

Funding for the 4ALL Statewide Service Day was provided through the NCBA Foundation Endowment.