MLS receives $8K donation

You could say that Micronesian Legal Services has finally seen the light.

This, after the non-profit legal servicing organization received a check donation worth $8,000 from the Light in the Eve Foundation yesterday morning.

MLS was this year’s beneficiary of the recently held Light in the Eve’s Pineapple Ball. The officers of the MLS, led by director attorney Jane Mack, together with staff attorney Vicky Taitano and MLS executive director Benjamin Tured, personally received the check from LITE president Michelle Lin and chair Laila Y. Boyer.

Dubbed this year as “Second Chance Prom,” the Pineapple Ball was held last Feb. 11 at the Giovanni’s Restaurant of the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Lin said the group was very excited to personally deliver the check to the MLS office in Susupe. She said the agency currently serves over 400 clients for free legal services. With their donation, the agency could provide better service to the community, especially those who belong to low-income families.

Boyer earlier said this would be the first time a non-profit organization has extended support to another non-profit organization. Last year, Light in the Eve donated proceeds of the event to the CNMI’s Connecting Families.

Lin said the organization selected MLS based on its application last year. The group believes that the legal service agency deserved the help this year.

Mack said the agency is grateful to the event organizer for choosing them as this year’s beneficiary as it would help them in assisting the needy in the CNMI.

She said the office needs a lot of improvement and the money would hopefully allow them to purchase necessary materials and equipment.

“Most of our work is still done manually,” Mach said, adding that they hope to get a case management system for the office.

Mack said the money would help them upgrade their system, especially now that the federal court has required them to acquire an electronic filing system.

Some previous employees reportedly call the MLS office on Saipan “Dinosaur Land.” With the donation, Mack is hoping to update the software that is so essential to helping process the cases of poor people in the Commonwealth.

The office is partly funded by the local government; the rest comes from the generosity of the community.