www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY May 17, 2020 2
BY JASON COHEN
Estefani Rodriguez and
Peter Garcia, board members
of the Dominican Bar
Association, often spoke to
each other about life, family,
personal and professional
goals or what took place on a
given day.
Before COVID-19 became
a global pandemic, they
wanted to work on a project
that would provide a meaningful
and positive impact
in their communities. After
seeing and experiencing the
devastating impact caused
by COVID-19, they regrouped
and realized that the time to
spring into action was now.
“As attorneys, we should
strategize and collaborate
with leadership in the legal
profession to fi nd ways
to support minority-owned
businesses by purchasing
meals to donate to front line
workers,” the duo said.
What originally started
with a handful of affi nity
bar associations, quickly
expanded to 20 organizations
representing lawyers,
judges, legal professionals
and law students in the tristate
area.
These partnering organizations
collectively referred
to themselves as the Coalition.
While Rodriguez and
Garcia knew or worked with
some of these people, the majority
had not prior to this
initiative. Despite that, the
Coalition enthusiastically
embraced this idea and demonstrated
their confi dence
in them as each partnering
organization committed
funds for meal purchasing.
“We were beyond excited
when we reached $10,000 in
commitments in a matter of
days,” Rodriguez and Garcia
said.
While the Coalition committed
$10,000, Rodriguez
and Garcia needed assistance
to manage the logistics.
Specifi cally, they were
tasked with contacting all
10 minority-owned restaurants,
placing the food orders
for hundreds of heroes,
coordinating delivery with
nine hospitals and facilitating
the payments from the
20 organizations to each restaurant.
Fortunately, they
received additional support
from their friend, Jasmine
Bueno and Garcia’s wife,
Stephanie Robayo.
This effort was the result
of leadership in the legal
profession coming together
to support the local community
during this diffi cult
time.
“This was no easy feat,
but it was worth it and felt
quite rewarding,” they said.
This money helped provide
almost 1,100 meals for
Estefani Rodriguez (l) and Peter Garcia Photo Photo courtesy of the Coalition
front line workers at nine
hospitals and paramedics at
one facility. Most of the deliveries
were distributed for
lunch on April 29. Since promoting
this effort on social
media, Rodriguez and Garcia
received interest from
other organizations that
wished to contribute to this
effort.
“We received over $3,000
in additional commitments
and we hope to leverage this
effort to assist other organizations
to continue what we
accomplished,” Rodriguez
and Garcia said.
Rodriguez and Garcia
have always appreciated being
involved with their communities;
from being an informal
or formal mentor to
providing engaging discussions
that educate and empower
the attendees. They
serve in varying leadership
roles for several organizations.
Rodriguez serves as
a committee member for the
Hispanic National Bar Association
(HNBA,) Young Lawyers
Division for Region II
(New York region.) Garcia
is the chief of staff for Anta
Cisse-Green, president-elect
of the MBBA, treasurer for
HNBA Young Lawyers Division
and committee member
for the Task Force on Puerto
Rico (New York City Bar Association.)
Dominican Bar Association
board members team up to
feed front line workers
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