Bob Racunas, long-time director of Neighborhood Legal Services Association (NLSA) was recently honored by the Josh Gibson Foundation at its bi-annual G.I.B.S.O.N Awards & Negro League Gala.

The Josh Gibson Foundation recognized Mr. Racunas in the G.I.B.S.O.N Awards Community Service category for his long-time work providing civil legal aid to victims of domestic violence and low-income families in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Mr. Racunas has led NLSA, the region's largest provider of civil legal aid, for the past 35 years.

Bob Racunas has made many additional contributions to the positive growth of the legal field. He was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Duquesne School of Law from 1981 to 1997 and then again from 1999 to 2003. He also served as President of the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) in 2005 and currently serves on several boards and committees in the ACBA, the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), and the American Bar Association (ABA).

The mission of Neighborhood Legal Services Association (NLSA) is to meet the civil legal needs of poor and vulnerable individuals in our community through effective legal representation and education. Every year, nearly thousand low-income individuals and victims of domestic violence in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and Lawrence counties turn to NLSA with civil legal problems that affect basic needs like housing, health, employment, and family safety. These are people who do not have the means to hire counsel to work out the civil legal problems that come their way. For more information about NLSA, please visit www.nlsa.us.