Giving Back to the Community

Communities function best when members contribute from their overflow of talents and resources. Scott D. Phillips, member-in-charge of the West Chester office of Frost Brown Todd law firm, couldn’t agree more.

“It’s our responsibility as members of the community to make it a better place to live, work and raise our children,” he says. “It’s the right thing to do, and it’s good for business.”

Phillips shares that philosophy with many of his colleagues at Frost Brown Todd. “I would say, as the leader of this office, the expectation is that everyone is involved in giving back to the community in some way.”

Putting his philosophy into action, Phillips serves on the executive committee of the board for United Way and heads the local branch office in Middletown. “United Way raises over 60 million dollars a year to fund initiatives in the community.” 

Serving can also mean seeing a need in the community and responding. “Two years ago, a group of business leaders at church became concerned about the heroin epidemic in our suburban communities of West Chester, Liberty Township and Mason.”

The group studied the problem to determine what they could do to help. “As we looked into it, we found an adequate number of treatment facilities available,” Phillips says. “But the folks who had the need were having difficulty getting information about who could provide the treatment.”

To bridge the communication gap, the group decided to partner with a social service agency and fund a care coordinator position to help people connect with the services they need.

“We held a gala two years ago and raised well over $200,000,” Phillips says. “We funded the care coordinator position, which has had a tremendous impact in getting folks connected with treatment.”

Phillips and the other group leaders simply responded to a need. “None of us had a background in this area or really any experience with it. We just saw the problem and were able to pull together a pretty significant response.”

While all of this is obviously good for the community, how is it good for business? “As we get involved in our community to make it a better place, we rub shoulders with others who are like-minded,” Phillips says. “Those folks become our friends and ultimately our clients.”

Giving back to the community is a true win-win for everyone involved, but that is not the primary reason Phillips and others at Frost Brown Todd do it.

“Even if I never got a client out of it, I would still do it,” Phillips says, “because it’s the right thing to do.”

You can reach the Heroin Hopeline at 877.695.6333 in Clinton and Warren counties, and at 844.427.4747 in Butler County. For more information, visit www.heroinhopeline.org.

Frost Brown Todd’s West Chester office is located at 9277 Centre Point Drive, 45069. For more information, call 513.870.8200 or visit www.frostbrowntodd.com.