AUGUST 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 15
COVER FEATURE
LEND A HAND TO THE BOOK FAIRIES
gratified to become involved.
Matthew Bruderman: My family has
done philanthropic work, anonymously,
for many years. Our foundation’s
mission is to basically support other
charities. There are so many wonderful
charities out there doing great work
that my family didn’t feel like we needed
to start another charity. We wanted
to support charities that were already
doing good work like The Book Fairies
or Ronald McDonald House or so many
others. There are so many homeless
organizations that we work with that
have food banks and food pantries and
homeless shelters. Those people that are
on the front line need capital. They need
resources and, because of my family’s
deep contacts throughout industry,
we’re able to get things. Once, we were
able to donate a lot of MRIs for people
who couldn’t afford it. We’re able to
get people to donate food. We’re able to
donate clothing so homeless women can
have a nice outfit to go get a job, or clothe
people that don’t have clothes. We produce
a lot of clothing, we donate and we
get others to donate to different causes
that are then able to get the clothing into
the hands of people who need it. My kids
and I right now are actually working on
a line of homeless clothing that’s purpose
built just to give to homeless people.
So we’re designing outerwear that turns
into a sleeping bag for example.
Getting involved with The Book Fairies
is a bit different than your other
cause-related efforts. How did you
become aware of The Book Fairies
and why did you decide to donate to it?
JM: We were impressed with its mission
and what it’s been doing with respect
to getting books into the hands of the
underserved and a cross-section of society
that doesn’t have access to books
and we decided to make a donation to
the organization. I think it’s extremely
valuable and it’s changing young peoples’
lives. My community service is
not solely based on my clients’ communities.
It’s a combination of supporting
my clients’ communities as well as the
charities and causes that, over time,
have become important to me or I’ve
developed some passion for – whether
it’s diabetes, cancer, or another specific
disease prevention.
MB: We like to support things locally.
Jim told me about it and I decided to
go out and check it out. So we actually
went there and I thought it was amazing
what these people were able to
develop. I think, with Jim and I, with
our relationships and some capital,
that we can make an impact by donating
and helping to continue its cause. I
actually think that reading is extremely
important – especially for young people.
Spending the time with a young child to
read them a book every night like I did
lays the foundation. The research shows
that if a parent reads to a child, the child
tends to be literate and go on to higher education,
so it’s a leading-by-example thing.
For us, the fact that The Book Fairies is
getting books into peoples’ hands is just
a great societal effort. Guys like me have
it easier. We can write a check and people
think that’s great, but that takes about 5
seconds — these people are donating their
time, doing the hard work and helping do
something good and taking the time out
of their days away from their families. So
that’s why we love these smaller charities
that are kind of bootstrapping. The people
behind them are really special, special
people. So we love to help.
I understand you are an avid reader,
Jim. What do you like to read? JM:
I’m both a bibliophile and a voracious
reader. In my teens, I read really almost
exclusively about sports and then,
during college and after college, I began
to develop an appreciation for literature.
In my 20s, I became a voracious
reader. I think writers have that ability
to formulate their thoughts on paper in
a way that gives you a different window
into life and the human psyche even.
How long have you known each other
and how did you meet? JM: Two-anda
half or three years. We became very
close in a short period of time. I own a
substantial insurance brokerage and
Matt was an insurance client of mine
and, from there, we became partners in
deals and I became an investor in some
of his companies.
MB: I was introduced to him through
someone as an insurance specialist. Because
we have so many different private
companies, we didn’t want to have gaps
in coverage and we’re in a lot of different
industries. So they suggested Jim’s
firm could handle our risk management
and look at all of our insurance needs
across all of our companies, which they
did do, and they were exceptional. So
then, after that, Jim and I have sort of
become fast friends.
TO HELP
SUPPORT THE
BOOK FAIRIES:
The Book Fairies is always looking
for people who want to join its
efforts. If you are interested in
running the New York City Marathon
on Nov. 7, it has three spots
currently available for 2021. Or if
you would like to run a book drive,
create a fundraiser for The Book
Fairies, or get involved in other
ways, you can email it at eileen@
thebookfairies.org.
1 in 4 children in America grow up
without learning how to read.
Source: dosomething.org
Children from middle-income
homes have on average 13 books
per child. There is only one book for
every 300 children in low-income
neighborhoods.
Source: Handbook of Early Literacy
61% of low-income families have
no age-appropriate books in their
homes.
Source: Reading Literacy in the
United States: Findings from the
IEA Reading Literacy Study, 1996.
The Book Fairies visited Northeast School children. (Photo by Jackie Pecora)
The Book Fairies have donated more than 2 million books since 2012. (Photo
by Jennifer Uihlein)
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