Firms giving back: Grant Thornton names 2021 Purple Paladin recipient

The Georgia Society of CPAs and the Georgia Food Bank Association announced that their eighth annual Accounting Food Fight raised a grand total of $346,288.81, enough to provide 1,385,155 meals.

More than 66 local accounting firms and accounting departments competed in the event, held from Aug. 10-21.

Since its inception in 2014, the Food Fight has collectively raised more than $1.4 million, equivalent to over 5.7 million meals for Georgia food banks.

Anna Abernathy won the honor of Grand Prize Food Fight Hero, raising $9,240 and earning the most points out of any accounting professional statewide. The Grand Prize Hunger Champion Winner firm was Nichols, Cauley & Associates, raising $48,014.

"Each year of the Georgia Accounting Food Fight, we come together as a profession to serve the communities we live in and show our dedication to the people within them.” said Boyd Search, president and CEO of the Georgia Society of CPAs, in a statement. "GSCPA is proud of the record-breaking numbers our members made possible this year with a total of $102,872.65 being raised in the last 24 hours."

The full results of the 2021 Accounting Food Fight are available on the GSCPA’s site here.

Grant Thornton has named Go Team Therapy, Airport and Crisis Dogs as the most recent recipient of the firm’s Purple Paladin initiative — a program designed to help emerging nonprofit organizations move from startups to more sustainable organizations via funding, business advice and volunteer support.

Go Team Therapy’s mission is supplying well-trained therapy dogs to programs and spaces where they can offer comfort, care and assistance to those in need.

“Go Team Therapy Dogs has an incredible and heartwarming mission — and we are confident the organization will continue lifting up people everywhere it serves,” said Grant Thornton CEO Brad Preber in a statement. “Dogs simply have a way of making the hardest situations easier, and that has never been more obvious than during the pandemic. ... Go Team Therapy Dogs understands the comfort these incredible animals can bring and has taken that ability to a highly-trained level that is simply inspiring.”

For more on the Purple Paladin initiative, head to Grant Thornton’s site here.

The Indiana CPA Society held its 17th annual CPA Day of Service on Sept. 24, with employee teams from 13 firms completing 16 service projects across 10 Indiana communities: Avon, Elkhart, Goshen, Indianapolis, Lawrence, Muncie, Munster, South Bend, West Lafayette and Winona Lake.

“So many CPAs have already gone above and beyond serving individuals and businesses in the community over the past year and half,” said INCPAS president and CEO Courtney Kincaid in a statement. “It is incredible to see them take additional time to help in this way.”

Participating firms included CliftonLarsonAllen, Devine CPA & Co., Donovan CPAs, Grace College, Greenwalt CPAs, Insight Accounting Group, Kruggel Lawton CPAs, L.M. Henderson & Company LLP, Lemler Group LLC, McMahon & Associates CPAs P.C., Sherck Hussey Johnson & McNaughton, VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm, and Whitinger & Company LLC.

A slideshow of the Day of Service is available on the INCPAS Facebook page here.