Trial Magazine

The Huntington City Mission strives to help the children who live there feel welcome and special. For decades, attorney Dave Duffield has been a key part of this work, supporting kids whose hardships he understands.

When it fell to Huntington, W. Va., attorney Dave Duffield to plan activities for a group of disadvantaged kids, he used his personal history as a guide—he grew up in a mobile home outside of rural Spencer, W. Va.

“My family struggled to pay the bills. Sometimes the utilities were cut off. Some looked down their noses at us. It was embarrassing, and the stigma was always there. You didn’t want to be different. You wanted to be like every other kid,” said Duffield. 

For 25 years, Duffield has supported the Huntington City Mission, a nondenominational gospel rescue mission that offers food, shelter, and services to homeless and low-income families. On average, 140 people sleep there each night, including 40 children. It provides approximately 400 meals daily, including many to the working poor who live outside the mission.

Now the managing partner of Duffield, Lovejoy, Stemple and Boggs in Huntington, Duffield’s extensive work at the mission has included providing hundreds of hours in pro bono services, collecting food donations, and serving on committees. But it was his 2006 assignment as chairman of the mission’s program committee that presented Duffield with his greatest challenge and greatest reward.

“I was tasked with reviewing current programs and developing new ones, and I didn’t know what to do. I felt ­overwhelmed and prayed for guidance. The answer that came to me was ‘search your past.’ That’s what I did,” Duffield said. “That stigma is what I remembered. That same stigma confronts the children who live at the mission. Some people call it the ‘poor house.’ The school bus picks the children up at the mission, and their classmates know that they live at the shelter. I wanted to help them feel like every other kid, even if just for a few hours.”

Under Duffield’s leadership, the Directors’ Children’s Program started in late 2006 when Duffield took the mission children to a local restaurant and game room. “It was just pizza and video games, but the kids were excited. It was something that most kids take for granted, but for these children it was something very special.” He followed it up by organizing a Christmas pool party at the Huntington YMCA, and the mission’s annual Christmas party was born.

The children’s program has continued to grow, with mission board members sponsoring monthly events throughout the year. Activities have included trips to concerts, Marshall University football games, and a local amusement park.

Since that first holiday party in 2006, Duffield has sponsored a day of holiday activities each December for mission families. His firm has assisted the last two years. The day includes a Christmas lunch, presents for the children, games, and more—including appearances from a firm associate dressed as Santa and a trip to the movies. “My childhood experiences were difficult, but those experiences showed me how I could make a difference. I can help these kids have a few hours when they are treated like other kids. This program is one of the best things I’ve ever done,” said ­Duffield.

Beth White is the executive director of the West Virginia Association for Justice. She can be reached at bethwhite@wvaj.org.