In the Community

Early Thanksgiving at Homeless Shelter

A homeless shelter isn’t the typical venue for legal consultations unless you work for Lanier Law Group, P.A. The law practice has been interested in helping the homeless. On a typical week, attorneys with the firm stop in to help qualifying people apply for disability. 

Bone Marrow Donor

In the winter of 2009, Lanier Law Group, P.A. employee Reuben Proctor was at a blood drive put on by the American Red Cross. Reuben saw a booth set up for a program called Be The Match. He looked into it and saw that it was a registry for people to be bone marrow donors. He saw that one in 500 people on the registry go on to donate bone marrow. He signed up by doing a cheek swab, and giving them his contact information, and thought, “What’s the chance I’ll actually get called to donate?”

In March 2014, Reuben got an email letting him know that he was a possible match for someone who needed a transplant and wanting to know if he was still interested. Reuben contacted the National Marrow Donor Program and told them he was still interested in donating. After doing some additional screening, he was identified as a perfect match for a young child who had a very serious illness, with a very small life expectancy if a transplant was not received.

Ronnie & Phyllis Get Hitched

Ronnie Poteat sat in the corner by the wall of windows Tuesday, wearing a borrowed suit, borrowed tasseled shoes and a red rose pinned to his lapel.

He had just gotten married to Phyllis Foust, a woman he had defended, helped, fed and lived with for more than 30 years. They had talked about marriage forever, but they never went through with it until Tuesday.

A local law firm that has helped Ronnie and Phyllis also found a dress, a veil, a dark suit and two places that agreed to cut and style the couple’s hair for free. The law firm got the rings, too.

Jacob Goad

Paralegal/Case Manager Jacob Goad takes time out of his busy work schedule to give back to the community. He recently led a team to Peru to build houses as part of the Global Builder’s Program for the Fuller Center for Housing. They helped to build three houses in Cañete, Peru. Jacob is also leading a team to the Dominican Republic the first week in March to engage in a cross-cultural arts & cuisine trip. He will be trading recipes with Dominican families and preparing dishes from American and Dominican traditions. They will also be making music together and holding a concert at the end of the trip. The main goal of his trip is to foster intercultural understanding and awareness through arts and cuisine. The purpose is to expose participants to foreign African cultures to promote racial equality and further appreciation for diversity in our own community.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation

For the third year in a row, Lanier Law Group, P.A. is donating money to sponsor our Litigation Paralegal Rachelle Messer’s husband, Logan, as he shaves his head to help raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. St. Baldrick’s is a charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers. Since its inception in 2000, more than 189,660 volunteers, including more than 17,000 women, have shaved their heads in solidarity with children with cancer at events in every state. These “shavees” have helped to raise over $117 million for life-saving research.