NW SHELTER RESIDENTS FEAST ON LAW FIRM'S CRAB CLAWS

STORM SENDS MANNA TO ELDERLY, DISABLED

The law firm of Frank, Bernstein, Conaway & Goldman had planned one of those Christmas parties yesterday that most Americans only see via television shows such as "L.A. Law."

A string quartet would entertain, and there would be colorful flower arrangements and pounds of shrimp, crab legs, scallops, steamed salmon and succulent tenderloin of beef.

Then the snow came and the party had to be canceled.

So instead, about 200 of the most desperate of the city's homeless -- elderly and disabled street people -- dined on the unaccustomed fare at the Second Street shelter run by the Community for Creative Non-Violence. The partners and associates at the Tysons Corner office of the firm decided to give the $5,000 worth of food to the shelter.

"Rather than trashing the food or wasting it, why not put it to good use?" said Williams L. Stauffer, senior partner at the Tysons Corner office. "We were happy to donate it to them and they were happy to accept it."

At the CCNV shelter at Second and D streets NW, founder Mitch Snyder decided to serve the party goods as dinner to the residents of the first floor only, the disabled and elderly. There wasn't enough to go around for all 1,400 homeless people.

Still, Snyder said, he is grateful for every donation. Two other food donations came in yesterday, though not as large as the law firm gift.

"It's a nice time of year," Snyder said. "If Christmas came every day of the year, we'd be a lot better off."

Typically the residents of the shelter eat ordinary American cuisine for dinner: spaghetti, some chicken, maybe a fruit salad. But last night, the first-floor residents had a feast.

The menu included strips of chicken breast marinated and grilled, 16 pounds of shrimp, buckets of scallops, crab claws, crab cakes, pasta, beef tenderloin, 30 pounds of salmon, sausage, brie cheese, duck rolls, vegetables, 700 cookies and pastries, a crate of fresh strawberries and six gallons of punch.

Stauffer said the 200-lawyer firm would make giving to the homeless or other charities an annual tradition.

"We hope others will think about the opportunity to help those with special needs," he said. "We certainly have so many of them in this community."

Actually, food gift-giving is a growing tradition in the Washington area as the number of homeless in the District and suburbs expands. Snyder and several large catering companies said that some of the millions of dollars in food bought for area holiday office parties often finds its way to shelters, soup kitchens and other charities.

"I can think of countless times even when an event has been rained out . . . and we will direct {the client} to shelters or other places in the District," said Laura C. Roche, an official of Ridgewell's Caterer of Bethesda, which was to have catered the law firm's party but instead delivered the food to Snyder.

Late yesterday afternoon, for example, the TRW Federal Systems Group canceled its annual holiday dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Alexandria. Company officials decided to donate $20,000 worth of whole turkeys, duck, roast beef and deserts to Lazarus at the Gate, a charity in Falls Church.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.