by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
After pledging three months ago to sponsor a dying teen’s Christmas, the staff at Coker, Myers, Schickel, Sorenson and Green was disappointed when the boy’s wish list finally arrived. The reason? It was too short.
The staff first heard about the boy’s plight through Community Hospice, an organization that provides comfort to the seriously ill and their families. Word of this young man’s plight quickly spread through the office — he was dying from Muscular Dystrophy, separated from his parents and under the care of financially strapped grandparents. It quickly became the firm’s common cause to make this Christmas special.
Attorneys, paralegals, partners and office staff all wanted to help. Some pledged money, some gave toys, some volunteered to shop. So it was a bit underwhelming when a wish list arrived just three items long.
The boy, whose name was withheld by Community Hospice at the family’s request, wanted a couple Xbox games. His two brothers of wanted gift certificates to Wal-Mart. His grandparents asked only that the children be taken care of. The meager requests only strengthened the law firm’s resolve to provide a memorable Christmas, said office manager Carol Cenci.
“We thought it was a remarkably humble amount to ask for,” said Cenci.
And so the staff took its research techniques, honed in preparation for countless trials and litigation, and focused it on the family. Cenci began a relentless search for the family’s wants and needs.
After uncovering some answers, the Coker Myers staff went on a shopping binge to make retailers drool. By the time the buying was finished, the staff confronted a small mountain of toys ready for wrapping.
Computer games, dart boards, sports equipment, gift certificates to restaurants and supermarkets, even a remote control flying saucer cluttered the law firm’s conference room. Clients could have been forgiven if they thought they stumbled into Toys R Us on accident.
Many of the items were easy to track down, but some presented a challenge. Cenci wandered hopelessly through Jacksonville’s sporting goods stores trying to hunt down hockey memorabilia. After searching most of the malls and shopping centers in Jacksonville for hats bearing the logo of the boys’ beloved Pittsburgh Penguins, Cenci finally found a cache sitting almost across the street from the firm’s downtown offices.
“Try to find hockey stuff in Jacksonville some time,” said Cenci. “We looked everywhere and finally we find it at the Landing. That guy made more money in that day then they had all year from hockey sales.”
Due to confidentiality requirements, Coker Myers didn’t know the names of the boys and the firm didn’t get to see their Christmas-morning reactions. But if the reaction from the Community Hospice was any indication, there were a lot of wide eyes around the tree Saturday morning.
“They (Community Hospice) were pretty shocked with what we came up with,” said Cenci. We won’t get to see their reactions, “but this is for them, it’s not for us. Still, I’d love to be a fly on the wall.”
Coker Myers is one of about 30 corporate partners which work with the hospice to sponsor a family Christmas. This year, volunteers and corporate partners adopted about 60 families, providing them with a celebration they otherwise could not afford. Since 1997 more than 500 Hospice families have participated in the program.
Some of the families are matched with corporate sponsors by the Hospice, but many of the sponsors volunteer unsolicited.