HAPPY!

The Community Shelter Board, which fights homelessness in Columbus, renamed its leadership society the Bailey Cavalieri Leadership Society in response to a gift from the firm in 2011, and the local chapter of United Way earlier this year gave the firm its President’s Award for its continuing growth in employee participation and total contribution, as well as its high level of engagement with United Way.

“I think we have successfully educated our folks on the importance of giving, the need for the funds that are given and the responsibility that comes to all of us from the many blessings that we’ve realized,” Bailey says.

Almost 100 percent of Bailey Cavalieri employees contribute to the company’s annual United Way campaign.

“We solicit all of our attorneys and staff members to individually contribute, and I have found that to be an important part of developing that culture (of giving),” says Bailey.

The company’s contributions go to United Way’s Community Impact Fund, which, in 2011, helped link almost 245,000 people in need with food, shelter and financial assistance; provide almost 27,000 youths build the skills needed to graduate high school; and connect almost 23,000 people with health and wellness services, among many other accomplishments, says Kermit Whitfield, director of communications for United Way of Central Ohio.

Other charitable efforts include participation in LifeCare Alliance’s Meals-onWheels program and a variety of holiday giving projects, such as adopting families in need and donating clothing and blankets to charitable organizations. The firm also donates to community nonprofits; for example, it’s one of the major sponsors of the Annie Leibovitz exhibition at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Among the organizations supported by staffers on their own time are Big Brothers Big Sisters, Buckeye Boys Ranch, YMCA, YWCA and the American Red Cross. Firm attorneys often provide pro bono legal services to the needy through the Legal Aid Society of Columbus and the Ohio State Legal Services Association.

“Every couple weeks, we’ll have somebody send an email around saying, ‘I’m involved in this organization … will you support me?’” Bailey says. cs