Holiday Children’s Breakfast

Each year the Bar Foundation hosts a festive get together for the families in the county who have opened their homes and their hearts to children in the Foster Care system and through Adoption.  Invitations are extended to each family and they are treated to a wonderful breakfast and a visit with Santa.  Many of the families come dressed in their holiday finest and the room is filled with red velvet,  ribbons and even entire families in matching Christmas pajamas! 

Through the generous donation of Matt Blatt Auto dealerships based in Gloucester County, each child gets their own wrapped gift from Santa especially selected for them.  The parents send us a wish list for each child and a crew of foundation volunteers and the Blatt family scour the store shelves for just the right gift.  Once purchased there is a long night of wrapping and excitement as this is the most wonderful and joyous activity of the Foundation all year.  Last year over 135 people (not counting the 30 volunteers) attended.

At the Breakfast hosted at Saphire Grill in Almonessan, the children and their parents are treated to a full buffet.  Each child gets their own moment with Santa and his elves and Christmas pictures galore are taken. Often the children are surprised with visits by Frosty the Snow Man and the Philly Fanatic ! 

The Gloucester County Bar and the Gloucester County Bar Foundation are very proud of this outreach and have brought Holiday joy to these families in this way for many years.   Much of the fundraising throughout the year is in support of this effort and this wonderful tradition could not possibly happen without the generous support of the members of the Gloucester County Bar and the Judiciary.

Calling all Santa’s Helpers. Volunteers are always needed for shopping, wrapping, playing important “character roles” and managing 100 excited children. If you can spare some time for a really wonderful event, please contact us.

There will be a shopping day and a wrapping party with pizza and soda the day before the big event. The more the merrier.

If you cannot volunteer but would like to contribute to the event we always accept donations to be used to make the breakfast a success.

Law Day

 Law Day is a nationwide celebration each year on May 1 to commemorate the rule of law in this great country and the protections our Constitution has created for all of our citizens by observing justice and fair play in this way.  Law Day is devoted to programs and events that help Americans understand how law and the legal process works to protect our individual liberties, achieve justice and contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share. 

 Each year the Bar Foundation hosts a luncheon for the high school students in the county and the attorneys practicing in this vicinage.  A speaker selected from a leader in the community gives a short address on the theme selected for the year by the National Bar Association and encourages the students to participate in securing and protecting their rights by voting and becoming involved in their communities. 

 At the Luncheon, the Foundation honors the teams that participated in the Bar Associations Mock Trial competition throughout the year and awards the Trophy to the winning school.  

 During the law day Celebrations, the Foundation awards the Francis Scholarship named after the late Judge Robert Frances JSC to a High school student who is advancing their career in the study of law.  Students are given a topic selected by the National Bar Association and are asked to submit an essay with their thoughts on the subject.  The winner is awarded $1,000 to be used in furtherance of their post secondary education.  

 The Foundation also takes this opportunity to present the Caufield Award to a member of the bar who has been instrumental in the charitable and public service efforts of the Bar Association. Many attorneys donate their time and talents to the Foundation, to pro bono efforts, and to Bar Association efforts such as ethics and discipline issues.  All of that time is given without credit or renumeration to most of them.  Each year the Foundation will try to honor one who has made a difference.  This year will mark the 25th year this award has been presented. 

 The Bar Foundation as the charitable arm of the Bar Association endeavors to continue to provide these scholarships each year. 

The 2025 Winner of the Gloucester County Bar Association Mock Trial Competition was the team from Delsea Regional High School.

Each year as part of the Bar Association’s holiday party, the Foundation runs a silent auction of various gift baskets donated by many of the law firms and individual attorneys. Creativity abounds and one can often find Golf outings (complete with swag); Phillies Tickets (and paraphernalia), Flyers tickets (and gear), ski adventures, (with lift tickets), dinner and a movie (with popcorn) and the generous baskets of libations and snacks. It is always fun to see the types of creativity demonstrated by attorneys. Their generosity is instrumental in funding the work of the foundation.

The Martin F. Caulfield Distinguished Service Award is given each year to a member of the bar who has been instrumental in the charitable and public service efforts of the Bar Association. Many attorneys donate their time and talents to the Foundation, to pro bono efforts, and to Bar Association efforts such as ethics and discipline issues.  All of that time is given without credit or renumeration to most of them.  Each year the Foundation will try to honor one who has made a difference.  This year will mark the 29h year this award has been presented. 

Prior Recipients:

1996 Martin F. Caulfield 2012 Hon. John Wallace

1997 John L. White 2013 A.J. Pistilli-Beakley

1998 Hon. Samuel g. DeSimone 2014 Roger Mattson

1999 Gary D. Thompson 2015 Hon. Robert Becker

2000 Hon. Walter L. Marshall 2016 Hon. Georgia M. Curio

2001 Joel B. Korin 2017 Kathi Renner

2002 Hon. Anne McDonnell 2018 Patricia Antonelli

2003 Ronald J. Uzdavinis 2019 Victoria Rand

2004 Thomas G. Heim 2020

2005 Angelo J. Falciani 2021

2006 Hon. Robert E. Francis 2022 Mark Kehoe

2007 Gary D. Thompson 2023 Hon. Timothy Chell

2008 James L. Capobianco 2024 Shannon M. Cornelius

2009 Timothy Scaffidi 2025 William Popjoy

2010 Christopher C. Cona

2011 Hon. Joseph F. Lisa

Golf Outing

One of our new events is to partner with the Gloucester County Bar Association to host a golf outing to help raise money to fund the various scholarships and programs we sponsor each year. 2024 was our first event and it was a great success. Over 80 golfers participated and both organizations were able to raise funds to support our efforts. It was so much fun w hope to be able to continue it each year.