Nassau lawyers raise $265G for charities
Greg Vita, left, and Wayne Marshal, from the Agape-Heaven of Abundance, in Hempstead, loads food into their van from Island Harvest Food Distrubition in Hauppauge. (Aug. 10, 2011) Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz
With golf season in full swing, is it any big deal that some 260 Nassau County lawyers played a round of golf? Since they raised more than $265,000 for charities and set a record -- it is.
We Care, the philanthropic arm of the Nassau County Bar Association, has been around since 1988, hosting a golf tournament every summer for its members.
This year 260 lawyers showed up -- about 125 more than last year. Instead of using just the regular course, Middle Bay Country Club in Oceanside, We Care had to off-load some of the golfers to another club as well, the Rockville Links in Rockville Centre, for the Aug. 1 tourney.
Contributions come from the players. This year, said Stephen W. Schlissel, of the Garden City firm Schlissel Ostrow Karabatos, the event raised more than $265,000.
Last year about $194,000 was raised. The event supports Island Harvest, the Interfaith Nutrition Network, scholarships for underprivileged children, and legal services for the poor, among other charities.
A few years ago We Care paid to establish a moot court at the Hempstead Middle School.
Thomas Bucaria, We Care's current co-chair and an attorney in Nassau for the Unified Court System of New York State, said virtually all administrative costs are picked up by the Nassau County Bar Association and just about every penny goes to the charities.
Stephen Gassman, of the Garden City law firm Gassman Baiamonte Betts, was among those who started We Care. "We always did community projects," Gassman, said of the bar association. "But we thought we should do real charitable projects because it's the right thing to do and also to show that the image of lawyers is not selfish. They give of their time and resources."
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