Holland & Knight issued the following announcement on April 16.
Holland & Knight and attorneys from the firm's Jacksonville office were honored by the Mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., on April 15 in appreciation of their pro bono work for the city after Hurricane Michael devastated the community in October 2018. Nearly every one of the city's more than 8,000 homes was damaged.
Holland & Knight Partners Jason Havens and Edward Sarnowski, along with Associates Amanda Barbour and Peter Blumeyer, created a Section 501(c)(3) public charity to facilitate structural and economic recovery in the city. The goal was to raise $40 million for the Lynn Haven Hurricane Relief Trust Fund, which is being used to help residents pay their insurance deductibles and other costs.
In appreciation of Holland & Knight's efforts, Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson presented the team with a key to the city and issued a proclamation on behalf of the city's residents that April 15 was to be known as "Holland & Knight LLP Day."
The Jacksonville team provided pro bono counsel to the Lynn Haven municipal government with respect to the formation of a nonprofit corporation as well as its application for recognition of tax-exempt status. At the request of the firm, the application received expedited consideration and an exemption determination, retroactive to the date of incorporation, in a fraction of the standard estimated time.
Lynn Haven was one of the most severely impacted cities when Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida panhandle on Oct. 10, 2018. The storm was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the United States in recorded history, as well as the strongest storm in terms of wind speed to strike the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992.
Original source can be found here.