Bar boost for kids

A lot of bad things get said about attorneys, until people need one. But even then the complexities of the law make for a lot of misunderstanding.

Kids get a bum rap, too. We see a lot of things in the newspapers and on television about youngsters who do horrible things, and never enough about the ones who struggle and strive and accomplish good, for themselves as well as for other people.

They exist, no matter what the headlines might say.

One of the good ones when it comes to kids is a 12-year-old named Hannah Albinson, and her parents always had reason to be proud of her, even before she was involved with the Girls on the Run program.

The program goes into local schools and creates teams of girls, 3-5th graders for Girls on the Run and 6-8th graders for Girls on Track. Meetings include life lessons on different topics involving self-esteem, friendships, bullying, healthy eating and exercise habits, and the girls train to run a 5K at the end of the season. The overall goal is to teach them to recognize their individual beauty and uniqueness, to define their lives on their own terms, to build confidence, and to show them ways to be an asset to their community and to positively shape their world.

Hannah was already doing a lot of positive world-shaping right outside her back door, but to hear her tell it, Girls on the Run helped her to prepare for a lot more.

There was training for the TGMC 5K Run For Excellence, which Hannah, who is called a “born runner” by her parents, already knew how to do. But there were all the extras that for Hannah made it especially worthwhile.

“You run but you don’t run all the time,” she said.

Coupled with the training were the relationships, with other girls and with the women who volunteered to make it all happen.

And then there were the lessons. Hannah recalls in particular the tissue paper and stones thing, which involves holding a piece of tissue paper taut and laying stones atop it.

“Eventually the paper tears,” she said, explaining how the stones and the paper are a metaphor for peer pressure. If you don’t watch it then you, the tissue, will break because of all the weight put on you by people who aren’t so nice.

Hannah didn’t know it, but a big chunk of the money used for the program came from a group that a lot of people might consider unlikely, which was a bunch of lawyers.

The Terrebonne Parish Bar Association Foundation along with other groups and businesses raised money that went directly to help Girls On The Run.

“Saints & Sinners” was the theme for a competition that saw attorneys and their employees serving up specialty meals or drinks, tailored to the theme and using costumes and props to get the point across.

Celebrity judges were District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr., Martin Folse of HTV, Parish President Michel Claudet and Houma Police Chief Todd Duplantis.

“Moonshine and Wings” was the overall winning food and drink entry, presented by Dennis Elfert, Seth Dodd, Sam Marcus, and a bailiff, Scott Bosse.

They spent weeks brewing apple pie moonshine and designing a mock still. They dressed as good ole country boys as they grilled chicken wings.

The Smitko Law firm – Jerri Smitko and her staff – won Best Food for pulled pork sliders with slaw and best costume, for their appearance as Jerri’s Angels, a spoof of the television show and movie “Charlie’s Angels.”

A lot of other local attorneys were involved as well.

What it all came down to was that a lot of money got raised, and it helped make for the awesome program Hannah took part in to be that much more awesome.

But what the attorneys will tell you is that the girls who took part in the entire Girls On The Run deal were who was awesome.

A lot of money and time gets spent on kids whose claim to fame is not a great personality or willingness to do good, but legal problems that end them in court.

In this case, the money went to help kids deserving of a program to help them be even better than they already are, and Hannah is proof of that.

“It made me want to have confidence,” she said of Girls On the Run.

And hearing her speak, it is difficult to imagine confidence as something she is need of, because she demonstrates plenty of it already.

Houma attorney Carolyn McNabb and members of the city’s Girls on the Run program are pictured following a recent check presentation by the Terrebonne Bar Association. The local bar recently held a “Saints & Sinners” competition that raised $5,000 for the program, which is designed to help girls celebrate their uniqueness, build confidence and teach ways to shape their community for the good.

COURTESY PHOTO