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Who Put 200 Coats into the Car of a Long Island Accountant?

Who Put 200 Coats into the Car of a Long Island Accountant?

Published 09-21-10

Submitted by NYBKW Charitable Foundation

/PRNewswire/ - NYBKW Charitable Foundation President Barry Berg, CPA, thought it would be great to assist the homeless on Long Island and at the same time do something to commemorate his accounting firm's 20-year anniversary. Mr. Berg is also co-managing partner at Melville-based accounting and consulting firm Nussbaum Yates Berg Klein & Wolpow, LLP (NYBKW), which founded NYBKW Charitable Foundation. "It's a win-win idea. Our charity would collect coats for the homeless, and we would do it in honor of NYBKW's 20 years of business success," said Mr. Berg.

How did these Long Island accountants become so philanthropic? Mr. Berg explains, "At my accounting firm, we are a group of professionals serving our clients day in and day out. We realized that behind the numbers and spreadsheets, we were really all about C-A-R-I-N-G. Plain and simple. We care about our clients. We care about our staff. We care about our community. We care about our environment. So when we formed the NYBKW Charitable Foundation, it was a natural extension of our commitment to caring. In fact, the mission statement for our foundation is 'NYBKW Accountants Care.'"

All this "caring" has been contagious. "Our grassroots charity is all about caring about others. When friend of the firm Gary Scheferen of Noamax Corp. heard about our 'NYBKW Accountants Care' theme, he immediately decided to help," said Walter Timoshenko, COO of NYBKW.

Which leads us back to the coats. Mr. Berg continued, "Gary Scheferen called me up and I told him that we had decided to collect coats for the homeless on Long Island. Earlier this year, NYBKW had set a goal of donating 10 coats for every one of the 20 years we've been in business on Long Island - a special 20-year NYBKW celebration commemoration with a twist. So Gary turns to me and offers to donate the whole 200 coats to the NYBKW Charitable Foundation. We reached our goal in seconds. How wonderful!"

But how did this all actually work? "Don't get me started," laughed Mr. Berg. "It sounded easy until 200 coats ended up in my car! Did you ever see 200 coats in one place? Try driving with them in your car! I'm glad I wasn't pulled over." Luckily, all ended well. The 200 coats made their way from Mr. Scheferen's car to Mr. Berg's car and finally to the car of Debbie Biederman, a volunteer at the Wyandanch-based Gerald J. Ryan Outreach Center at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church, which provides dignified emergency assistance to individuals in need and will get the coats into the hands of those who need them most.

For more information or to join the efforts of NYBKW Charitable Foundation, please contact Barry Berg at 631.845.5252 or barry.berg@nybkw.com.

NYBKW Charitable Foundation

NYBKW Charitable Foundation

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