BBQ fundraiser helps legal aid organizations

It’s time for good eats and a good cause.

The Third Annual Beer Tasting and Celebrity BBQ Battle to benefit the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and Atlanta Legal Aid Society will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Atlanta Event Center at Opera, 1150 Crescent Ave N.E.

Tickets are $65 and can be purchased online at beertastingevent.org.

The event raises money and awareness for the two organizations.

Among the participating restaurants are The Pig & the Pearl, Smokebelly BBQ and Sweet Auburn Barbecue . There will also be many varieties of craft and local beer available.

AVLF provides legal help and education to at-risk, low-income individuals. More than 400 attorneys volunteer annually with the organization to assist over 5,000 individuals with legal advice or representation. Their programs include services for survivors of family violence and stalking, landlord/tenant disputes, evictions, unpaid wages, consumer debt and probate issues.

Legal Aid has represented Atlanta’s poor in civil legal cases since 1924. Legal Aid’s primary function is to provide referrals and legal representation to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to obtain access to the court system.They serve those with an income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett Counties in Georgia.