Students and alumni serve those who serve

Penn State Law students and alumni recently joined forces to provide estate planning documents to first responders and their spouses as part of the national Wills for Heroes project. 

“Wills for Heroes is an organized effort to thank these heroes for their selflessness in protecting our communities," said Kate Cramer Lawrence, director of Penn State Law's Public Interest Programming. She worked with the Cumberland County Department of Public Safety to organize 16 attorneys, 20 law students, and 3 notaries.

"According to Wills for Heroes, about 90% of first responders don’t have wills. Well, we’ve got people thinking about it now in Cumberland County and the surrounding areas and hopefully we can cut down that percentage," said Megan Moriarty, a Cumberland County spokesperson who organized the event with John Quirk, the Cumberland County emergency management resource coordinator. She said that the best part of the day was the enthusiasm brought by the law students and attorneys. "They seemed so excited to help out and get to meet the first responders." 

The event was open to all Cumberland County first responders, including fire, police, EMS, and special teams. The event was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Division with assistance from the Cumberland County Register of Wills. As law students and attorneys paired up to draft documents, local businesses provided snacks and other support.

“The day was an overwhelming success for all involved and I thank everyone who donated time and support to this event,” said Cramer Lawrence, who thanked the Public Interest Law Fund, the Women's Law Caucus, and Project STAFF for their help in organizing and recruiting law student volunteers.  

Law School alumni who volunteered for the effort include:

• Jonathan D. Andrews ’06, McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC
• George F. Douglas III ’86, Salzmann Hughes, P.C.
• Katherine Fitz-Patrick ’08, Pennsylvania School Boards Association
• Meghann Garrett ’09, Stone, Duncan & Associates
• Lisa Grayson ’96, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Jeff Lawrence ’08, Mooney & Associates
• Marylou Matas ’99, Saidis Sullivan
• David T. Miller ’99, Jones Day, Miller & Miller LLC 
• John Mooney III ’83, Mooney & Associates

Cramer Lawrence said that additional Wills for Heroes events are planned in the spring of 2011 in both Cumberland and Centre Counties as part of Alternative Spring Break programming.