Welcome to a new decade!

                As Wall Street Cares enters its 19^th year of giving and its third decade of helping families in need, it seems right to look back on where we have come from. Way back in 2002, we took the pain and the loss we all felt after the horrific event of 9/11 and decided to make a difference. Friends, family members, coworkers, strangers….people lost to us forever. In the aftermath of that day, you couldn’t have a conversation with someone who hadn’t known someone lost to us. The desire to do something for those people was strong. It was so strong in fact that almost 20 years later we still gather for those in need, well beyond the reach and scope of 9/11. Many of those helped now are complete strangers to those of us involved, but all share the same need.

                Over the past 19 years, the board has had the unenviable task of selecting a person to honor, a family to help. It is never an easy task. It is an emotional, passionate, gut-wrenching rollercoaster search to find someone we can help, as ALL who are introduced to us are deserving of our help and respect. Save the 2004 event for my brother, all the families have come to us from a friend of a friend….a person who worked for the same company that someone worked at…a neighbor, someone from their hometown….an old high school buddy or teammate.  That fact in no way diminishes the need for help, the boards’ desire to have a wonderful event, and the tears we all shed for those left behind. I can assure you our hearts are still out there for every family we have ever done our event for.

But this year is a little different…..

Thomas “Mooch” Egar became part of WSC when he spearheaded the event in 2015 for his dear friend Alex Vega. Much like Alex, Mooch was a mammoth of a man…inside and out. It is not a cliché’ to say he had to be that big to hold his heart….he absolutely did. He became a fixture at our events. His laughter immediately made you laugh, his smile infectious. I remember asking him to be part of WSC, to which he told me “I already am!” I nodded and agreed and realized he didn’t want recognition, or to have his face on the website…he just wanted to help in his own way. There will never be another Mooch….

Please join us on Good Friday, April 10^th to help honor Mooch and be there for Tara, his loving partner, and his children, Lauryn age 12, Ashling age 9, and Aidan who is 6. Be there to lend an ear, a shoulder to cry on, a pair of arms to lend comfort and support as we honor a man that brought out the best in all of us. A man who represents what Wall Street Cares is all about.

May God bless you and keep you,

Paul Mastrobuoni

Wall Street cares