Celebrating Fatherhood Through Community Service

0:00 Speaker 1 Feel the energy of the fly. From the second to the ninth of August, Belfast welcomes the Cultist Flakhielmaheran, the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture. Enjoy lively pub sessions, street performances and all Ireland competitions on Belfast historic streets and world class stages. Whether you’re a devoted troup follower or a wide eyed first timer, be part

0:23 of celebrating together. Plan your trip at flock hule dot Ie, organized by Cultis and Belfa City Council.

0:30 Speaker 2 It’s Father’s Day, well, and we have a Father’s Day special today. We have Mark Zardarer and he’s a New York attorney and a recent grandfather and we have a combination well Father’s Day with his son and well then his grandson or grand and well Mark Zatterer tell us about this sweaty what are you doing? But you have

0:58 a new book.

1:00 Speaker 3 I do first of all good to meet you and to share this experience of being a new grandfather. It’s a new thing, I guess for both of us perhaps, But yeah, I wrote a book called Council. The Courtroom is open. About fifty plus years of mostly high profile but also low profile cases. And I have dedicated the

1:23 author’s profits to my son’s charity, Grassroots Grocery. Very proud of him. He was a school teacher who decided to devote his life to helping people who are in need. And he has this nonprofit nonprofit that assembles hundreds of families in the Bronx. Every Saturday, they bring in food that’s not bought from the Bronx markets and they have

1:48 volunteers packing it and distributing it in the Bronx where it’s most needed. And the proceeds for my book are going entirely to support this worthwhile organization. And I’m very proud of him, as I’m sure you are, as well as your grandchild.

2:02 Speaker 2 Well, I mean that is I mean it’s a great Today’s Father’s Day and it’s a great father and son and grandchild story. And tell me how did your son get involved in this nonprofit? And and how is this nonprofit being funded other than Daddy is giving the proceeds of his book.

2:25 Speaker 3 Ah, Well, he’s got institutional support. There are Hedge funds that are finding him, you know, worthwhile of donations. He goes around making arrangements with major law firms in Manhattan to have these food packaging parties so to speak with their summer lawyers and have people roll up their sleeves and they feel good packaging the food and then it

2:49 gets distributed in the box. So the money is coming from institutions, from people who have learned about his activities and just write checks or go online. Sometimes it’s twenty five dollars, sometimes it’s ten thousand dollars a pop. And that’s how he’s done it, and I’m very proud of him.

3:08 He was a school teacher, went down to teach school after college, teaching English as a second language in the Costa Rica. Came back and said he started what they called refrigerator projects in New York, where they talked to Boudegas who would let them plug in a refrigerator on the street and people in the community would put in

3:28 food that they could donate, and people could take out food without question if they needed it. So that’s his tradition, going from school teacher to community kind of a donator, and we’re very proud of him.

3:41 Speaker 2 Well, thank you for bringing up such a great son to feed the hungry. You know, I’m the chairman of the Police Athletic League, and we feed twenty twenty five thousand kids every week and help them go in the right direction. If anything we could ever do together.

3:59 Speaker 3 Let me know good. I’ll say he was on the Today Show and they did a feature on him on NBC while about a month ago. I’ll send you your folks will give you an email I’ll send him, or I’ll put them in touch with you, and anything that you do. Buy the book for twenty eight dollars if

4:16 you save up for it’d be great.

4:18 Speaker 2 As a matter of fact, I will send you my book for free, okay, and I will text you thank you so much.

4:26 Speaker 3 I appreciate it. I’d be honored.

4:27 Speaker 2 Really thank you.