DCBA young lawyers give something most children want--time.

• Author: Williams, Toyca
• Position: Spotlight on Voluntary Bars

Working with youth can be a rewarding experience. Just ask members of the Dade County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section who volunteer to provide social activities for children who have been placed in unfortunate situations.

The DCBA/YLS Kids Club is a program that provides fun and educational activities for underprivileged children in Miami-Dade County. About 15-20 volunteers, mostly lawyers, plan a monthly outing for youths ages 9-17. Tiffani Lee, DCBA/YLS director and co-chair of the Kids Club Committee, said most of the children are minority and young women. The program runs from August to May, with at least one activity each month.

"We continue this program because the kids love it, the adult volunteers love it, and it is a way for us to provide some community service that will likely have a lasting positive impact," Lee said.

Since 1995, the DCBA young lawyers have been partnering with various groups and agencies that assist children. About four years ago, the committee began to work with children who attended a community center in Little Havana and the Children's Home Society of Florida (CHS). Now, it works exclusively with the children who live in four foster care group homes operated by CHS, Florida's oldest nonprofit provider of services to children and families.

Established in 1902 as a Jacksonville orphanage, CHS provides Florida families with a unique spectrum of social services, including foster care, adoption, child abuse prevention, emergency shelters, group homes, case management, and treatment for developmentally disabled children.

To help defray some of the program's expenses, the DCBA/YLS has a silent auction and softball tournament that help fund programs coordinated by the DCBA/ YLS Children Services Committee. In November, The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division awarded the program a $1,250 affiliate outreach grant. Additionally, Lee said, the program relies on many services donated by local businesses.

The volunteers are mostly young lawyers but not limited to them. Lee speaks fondly of a landscaper who enjoys working with the children and has done so for about seven years.

"The Dade County Bar YLS is one of my best groups," said Andrew Choban III, activities/volunteer coordinator for the Children's Home Society. "Due to the generosity of the Kids Club, these children continue to have...