Chocolate vs. Homelessness

Middletown’s own Tschudin Chocolates & Confections has partnered with the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) for its 2010 charity project, “Bang the Gavel Against Homelessness in Connecticut.”  Through this fundraiser, those looking to lend a helping hand can purchase chocolate gavels and assorted truffles to benefit Billings Forge Community Works, an organization that encourages community involvement in one of the poorer areas of the country, Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood. 

The CBA Young Lawyers Section (YLS) has teamed with Billings Forge Community Works this year to help the organization further its mission and to raise awareness about the dire issues in the Frog Hollow community.  Billings Forge’s mission is aimed at building and sustaining a strong and vibrant community, which includes providing residents with job opportunities, sustainable gardening and food preparation practices, fair housing, workshops and educational opportunities for children and adults and art/music programs. 

“This year’s project engages not only lawyers but all Connecticut residents in helping a part of our community that absolutely needs it,” YLS Chair Jeffrey White said. 

The assorted chocolates will be handcrafted by Tschudin Chocolates & Confections in Middletown, Conn., using herbs and spices grown right at the Billings Forge community garden.  The chocolate gavels come from New Hampshire’s The Gavel Factory.  

Net proceeds from the chocolate fundraiser will be donated to Billings Forge at a special YLS holiday party for Frog Hollow children.  Sales will run from October through late December.

The CBA will accept orders beginning Friday, Oct. 1.  Chocolate gavels can be purchased for $3.25 each, while boxes of assorted truffles are available in various sizes with prices ranging from $10 to $60 per box.  Project details and order forms can be found at https://www.ctbar.org/Calendar/SpecialEvents/BangtheGavel.aspx.

Last year’s CBA charity cookbook, From Court to Cuisine, sold more than 250 copies.  Net proceeds benefitted YLS’s Soup Kitchen Project, which included visits to soup kitchens and shelters in Hartford, New Haven and Norwalk.

The Connecticut Bar Association is a membership organization serving Connecticut attorneys and the legal profession by working to advance the principles of justice, the practice of law, the image of the profession, and public understanding of the law.