Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is donating $5,000 to six organizations dedicated to improving the lives of communities and populations in need. The organizations were selected by counsel and associates who worked 50 or more hours on pro bono matters in 2021, which made them eligible to nominate an organization and vote for this year’s donation recipients. In choosing these organizations, the lawyers considered the challenges faced by local, national, and international communities this past year, the services offered by the organizations and the impact of the donations.

The six organizations selected to receive donations are:

• Backpacks for the Street (BFTS), which packs items like first aid kits, water, socks, toothpaste and snacks into colorful backpacks and distributes them to unhoused people in New York City. With teams of volunteers, BFTS has helped more than 30,000 unsheltered individuals by providing food and lifesaving services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Centro Legal De La Raza, a legal services agency in San Francisco protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant, Black and Latinx communities through bilingual legal representation, education and advocacy. By combining quality legal services with know-your-rights education and youth development, Centro Legal de la Raza ensures access to justice for thousands of individuals throughout Northern and Central California.

• Homes Not Borders, which provides refugees, asylum seekers and Special Immigrant Visa applicants and their families in the D.C. area with household goods and furnishings, job and career support, and assistance accessing services.

• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a longtime pro bono partner organization of the firm, which works with unaccompanied migrant children in the United States by providing them with legal and social services, and also works internationally to advocate for the fair and appropriate treatment of unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children.

• UNICEF Emergency Response For Children in Ukraine, which provides vulnerable children and families with essential services including health, education, protection, water and sanitation, as well as life-saving supplies.

• University Settlement, which partners with 40,000 New Yorkers on the Lower East Side and in Brooklyn every year to build on their strengths as they achieve healthy, stable and remarkable lives.

Debevoise provides a wide array of pro bono legal services to marginalized communities and underserved populations on matters ranging from landmark international and national disputes to representations of low-income individuals. We also partner with clients on a range of corporate, litigation and tax pro bono matters in clinic settings and individual matters.