Whether participating in or hosting fundraisers, spending our free time helping individuals in need or offering leadership and guidance on various non-profit boards of directors, our employees constantly find new ways to give back to our communities.
Our Community Connections Committee was formed to help organize the philanthropic interests of our attorneys and staff members and translate them into concrete actions. In 2006, we established the Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard Charitable Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization that supports and contributes to the local, regional and national charities selected by our Community Connections Committee each year.
Each year we are excited to participate in the United Way Campaign and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’s Motion for Kids, as well as the various races for causes such as the Komen Race for the Cure, Alzheimer’s Association walk, Run for Little Hearts and Head for the Cure.
Our Community Connections Committee also organizes firm-wide events throughout the year to raise funds for selected charities, including our annual Trivia Night, Thanksgiving Luncheon and Bake Auction featuring items baked and prepared by our members and their families. In addition to our efforts for our primary charitable organizations, we raise money within our firm by hosting dress-down days and other events for elected secondary charitable organizations in the area.
For 2023, our Community Connections Committee elected and proudly supports:
Uplift Organization
Uplift Organization is a mobile street outreach for the homeless of Kansas City. Three nights a week, they take four Sprinter vans loaded with food, clothing, and other essential supplies out to the homeless. They meet them at parks, under bridges, at their camps, or wherever they are. They ypically serve 250-400 people each night and never miss a night!
The Stork Foundation for Infertility
The Stork Foundation for Infertility's mission is to give hope and opportunity to those suffering from infertility and fighting for their dream of parenthood. The Stork Foundation provides financial assistance to low resource individuals who require costly medical infertility treatments that would otherwise be out of financial reach.
LoveU2Pieces
LoveU2Pieces provides support to the St. Louis community, and is committed to supporting neurodivergent children and teens requiring minimal support. They help children and teens build and practice skills in a safe, supportive, and understanding environment. LoveU2Pieces works with individuals ages three to 17 to develop confidence, self-awareness, awareness of others, and effective coping strategies for self-regulation and social interaction.
Additional charitable organizations our committee will support in 2023 include:
- National Alliance on Mental Illness - NAMI envisions a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares. NAMI provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.
- Equipping the Called -Foster and Crisis Closet - Equipping the Called strives to encourage and support children in crisis and foster families. Their foster closet is equipped with items to improve lives, rebuild dignity, and enrich families for healing and hope for the future.
- Wayside Waifs - Wayside Waifs is a nonprofit animal shelter preparing pets and people for the bond of their lives. Wayside is Kansas City's largest no-kill animal shelter.
- Defenders of Freedom - Defenders of Freedom provides donors with the organization they need to support post-9/11 Veterans in their transition to civilian life through emergency financial assistance, morale-building programs, and traumatic brain injury treatment.
For more information on our community involvement efforts, please contact:
Steven Walsh
Community Connections Committee Chair
314.446.4360
swalsh@sandbergphoenix.com