Community Involvement

Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery actively embraces its commitment to the community in which we live and work. We do this through our people, our services and our financial contributions. To this end, we recognize some of the organizations to which we have most recently given our time and financial support.

Redwood Empire Food Bank

The mission of the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) is to end hunger in our community. The REFB acquires food and distributes it in Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt & Del Norte Counties through its own food distribution networks. Our firm recognizes this essential commitment to provide the most basic human needs of our community, and has therefore made significant contributions to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, including its ongoing and annual capital campaigns. Richard W. Abbey and Brendan M. Kunkle have served on the Redwood Empire Food Bank Board of Directors.

Schools Plus

Schools Plus is a partnership of concerned parents, educators, and community businesses that have come together with the shared belief that co-curricular activities are not expendable luxuries in the education of our youth. Rather, they are vital enrichment activities that help to develop qualities of leadership, teamwork, tolerance, and perseverance that are the foundation stones of civilized society.

Our firm has made significant contributions to Schools Plus. Richard W. Abbey was a founding board member of Schools Plus and Brendan M. Kunkle is a past President of the Board of Directors.

Schools Plus in the news: Benefield: Parents, Schools Plus Pitch in to Warm Up Soccer in Santa Rosa

United Way of the Wine Country

United Way of the Wine Country brings the United Way concept of caring to Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties. United Way of the Wine Country mobilizes the caring power of our community by providing leadership and collaboration with other nonprofits and funding to a wide variety of direct service programs.

Our firm has made significant financial contributions to the United Way of the Wine Country, and Brendan M. Kunkle is a past President of the Board of Directors.

Legal Aid of Sonoma County

Legal Aid of Sonoma County helps low-income individuals and families with critical needs for shelter, safety, and income through crisis legal services. Its mission is to reduce the number of women, children and families in Sonoma County who are physically and emotionally abused, lack stable homes and lack the means to care for themselves. One of Legal Aid’s principal efforts is a domestic violence services program. Jack M. Sanford currently serves on the Board of Directors.

Sonoma County Family YMCA

The motto of the Sonoma County Family YMCA is, “We build strong kids, strong families, and strong communities.” The Y seeks to enrich and enhance the lives of its members through programs which develop spirit, mind, and body.

The Y offers a wide variety of health and well-being programs, including educational and supportive after-school activities for children of working parents. The Y’s summer youth activities include an adventure camp and specialty camp. The Y also has developed a program called Healthy Family Home, which seeks to support family efforts to be healthy in ways that are both fun and practical.

Our firm has made significant contributions to the Y, and Richard W. Abbey is a long-term member of the Board of Directors. He served as President of the Sonoma County Family YMCA in 1998-2001.

Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership

(formerly Volunteer Center of Sonoma County)

The Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership supports and encourages volunteer effort in all phases of life in Sonoma County. The Center places volunteers in appropriate nonprofit positions and assists other nonprofits in all aspects of their service to the County.

Our firm has been a substantial benefactor of the Center for Volunteers for many years. We have been a strong supporter of the Sonoma County Secret Santa Program. Patrick W. Emery is a long-term member of the Center for Volunteer Board of Directors and served as President of the organization in 2005 and 2006.

Sonoma County Bar Association

The Sonoma County Bar Association serves over 1,400 lawyers who live and work in Sonoma County. Its mission is to enhance professionalism in the legal profession, serve the Sonoma County community and support and improve the civil and criminal justice systems. All of our lawyers are members of the bar association.

Patrick W. Emery, Richard W. Abbey, Lewis R. Warren, and Michell B. Greenberg are all Past Presidents of the Sonoma County Bar Association.

10,000 Degrees

10,000 Degrees is an organization serving, among other locations, Marin and Sonoma Counties, helping rising high school seniors from low-income families get into, and graduate from college, enrolling at either four-year schools or local community colleges. The organization supports these students initially by educating them as to their secondary school opportunities early in their high school years, adult mentoring, assistance in the college application process, and scholarship money, both from 10,000 Degrees and accessing government and private scholarship funding sources. Mitchell B. Greenberg has served on the Sonoma County Advisory Board for 10,000 Degrees for years.

Social Advocates for Youth (SAY)

SAY was established in 1971 by a group of legendary Sonoma County leaders, Judge John Moskowitz, Henry Trione, Chief Probation Officer Bill Mulligan, Lawyer Tadini Bacigalupi and High School Teacher Andy Wahlstrom to provide a constructive alternative to juvenile hall for runaway youth. Since then, SAY has helped over 50,000 youth, aged 5-24. Over the years, SAY has continually refined its program formula to break cycles of abuse and hopelessness. That formula incorporates three pillars: housing, counseling and careers. The product: Youth who are stable and able to rise to life’s challenges and opportunities.

Today, SAY, the principal organization serving at-risk kids in Sonoma County since 1971, has recently renovated the old Sutter Warrack Hospital in Santa Rosa re-purposing this idle community asset into the SAY Finley Dream Center. The Dream Center has become part of SAY’s family of services, which also include a teen shelter, drop-in center, youth apartments, street outreach team, in-school mental health care, grief services, and a robust career services programs.

SAY is governed by a 20 member, highly respected Board of Directors including bankers, accountants, financial managers, law-enforcement and criminal justice administrators. Richard W. Abbey was instrumental in meeting the goals of the Capital Campaign for the Dream Center. Jack M. Sanford currently serves on the Board of Directors of SAY.

Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa

Active 20-30 US & Canada provides young adults with an opportunity for personal growth, friendships and leadership development while improving the quality of life for the special needs children in their community.

The Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa raises money and provides volunteers to local charitable organizations as well as hosts their own fundraising events. Scott R. Montgomery is the Chair of the Kids’ Christmas event. Daniel J. Wilson formerly served on the Board of Directors.

Community Foundation Sonoma County

Community Foundation Sonoma County believes in the power of connecting people, ideas, and resources to benefit all who live here. They invest in the promise of Sonoma County by facilitating:

• Connections: Partner with donors and professional advisors to build resources that create long-term philanthropic solutions.
• Stewardship: Fulfill the charitable legacies of our donors by supporting a diverse cross-section of effective nonprofits.
• Solutions: Convene individuals and organizations to stimulate new ideas, foster collaborations, and strengthen community philanthropy.

Patrick W. Emery serves on the Board of Directors for Community Foundation Sonoma County.

Sonoma Land Trust

Sonoma Land Trust believes that the land is the heart of the community, and that when our land is healthy, our community is healthy.

Sonoma Land Trust is a local, non-governmental, nonprofit organization funded largely by membership contributions. The Land Trust works closely with private landowners, Sonoma Ag + Open Space and other public agencies at all levels of government, nonprofit partners and foundations. Since 1976, Sonoma Land Trust has protected more than 50,000 acres of beautiful, productive and environmentally significant land in and around Sonoma County.

Lewis R. Warren serves on the Board of Directors.

Sonoma County Fair Foundation

The mission of the Sonoma County Fair Foundation is to raise and steward funds to support facility improvements and special projects of the Sonoma County Fair.

Together, we are continuing the legacy of Richard and Saralee and bringing agricultural education to the forefront of our community.

A 501c(3) not for profit Sonoma County Fair Foundation.

Patrick W. Emery served as the President of the Sonoma County Fair Board of Directors and President of the Harvest Fair Foundation Board of Directors. As a member of the Board of Directors, Patrick W. Emery was instrumental in the capital campaign to bring Saralee Kunde’s dream for a center for agricultural education in the building of Saralee & Richard’s Barn at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

Sonoma County Secure Families Collaborative

The Sonoma County Secure Families Collaborative is a partnership among Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy and Services (VITAS), Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, and the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic at the University of San Francisco School of Law, and provides various legal support services to meet the needs of Sonoma County’s immigrant community, including deportation defense, immigrant family reunification and asylum applications, as well as social services including disaster recovery services for undocumented fire survivors and community outreach and education. Mitchell B. Greenberg assisted in the formation of this collaborative, and currently remains active in supporting this organization.

Caritas Village

Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa and Burbank Housing have partnered to create Caritas Village, which will include a housing-focused service center, emergency family shelter, and 128 units of permanent affordable housing for those in need. Caritas Village will replace Catholic Charities’ aging facilities on Morgan and A Streets which currently serve 2,000 people a year. This is a long-term solution to the crisis of homelessness in Sonoma County. It will help get twice as many people off the streets and into permanent housing each year. Richard W. Abbey is a member of the Capital Campaign Cabinet.

Marin Childcare Council (MC3)

MC3 is a nonprofit organization located in San Rafael, which is dedicated to improving the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality childcare. MC3 focuses on increasing the supply of affordable, quality childcare in Marin County, helping families enrolled in subsidized childcare achieve self-sufficiency, and advocating for funding of childcare subsidies for all eligible families. Jaimee A. Modica serves as President of the Board of Directors and has been on the Board for approximately 10 years.

Children’s Museum

From programs to camps, The Children’s Museum of Sonoma County provides hands-on, interactive exhibits and activities designed to ignite the imagination in a safe environment that are custom designed for families with children aged ten and younger. Daniel J. Wilson currently serves on the Board of Directors.