Pro Bono Work
Mendel & Associates donates hundreds of hours to the Alaska Pro Bono Program, providing free legal services to low-income Alaskans. The firm received the Pro Bono Service award from the Alaska Bar Association in 2000. Allison Mendel has twice received the ACLU Liberty Award, in 1998 and 2007. The 2007 award was shared with the other co-chairs of Alaskans Together.
Members of the firm also donate their time to Bar Association activities. Lori Colbert is serving her fifth term as the co-chair of the Alaska Bar Family Law Section, and serves on the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the American Bar Association Family Law Section. Mary Gilson is the chair of the Committee of Bar Examiners, who write and grade the Alaska bar examination. Allison Mendel is serving a second term on the Alaska Bar Board of Governors.
Community Work
Each employee at Mendel & Associates is required to spend two hours each month during paid work time, doing volunteer work in the community. Employees do a wide variety of services, including work on church activities, at the dog pound, political campaigns, nonprofit athletic events, State Fair, volunteering in the schools, and many more. For the last two years, the firm has collected donations at the holidays for the Child in Transition program of the Anchorage School District, which assists homeless children in the schools.
Several firm members have volunteered for Anchorage's Project Homeless Connect. This is a one day event, held twice a year, to provide access to housing, services, and hospitality in a convenient location to directly assist people experiencing homelessness in Anchorage. Over 40 vendors participated in serving hundreds of participants. It was a collaborative effort of service providers, government agencies, the private sector, and many volunteers. Services included medical and mental health, housing, dental, benefits, employment, legal, free eyeglasses, state ID, food, wheelchair repair, haircuts, childcare and more.