Charity keeps Bloomfield Hills attorney busy
Foundation helps kids deal with loss
It’s no secret the lawyer, who owns Norman Yatooma & Associates, is busy representing the family of Tamara Greene — including her eldest son, Jonathan Bond — in a lawsuit against the City of Detroit and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in her unsolved murder.
And Yatooma, 35, who lives in Bloomfield Hills, is busy with a charitable effort even closer to his heart — and one he sees as related.
The married father of one child, with another on the way, founded Yatooma’s Foundation for the Kids in 2003. It’s dedicated to the memory of his father, Manuel Yatooma, who was shot and killed in Detroit at age 45 in 1993. The charity helps children deal with the loss of a parent.
On June 8-9, the two largest annual fund-raisers for the charity — a dinner and auction at the Townsend Hotel and a golf tournament at Oakland Hills Country Club — will take place.
The Birmingham-based nonprofit, which provides a variety of aid from financial assistance to grief counseling, hopes to raise more than half a million dollars this year.
QUESTION: What were your reasons for founding this charity?
ANSWER: After my father died, we went through something of an indescribable hell. My father … was shot twice in a carjacking he interrupted. … The spectrum of services we provide are exactly the kinds of services my brothers and my mom and I needed after my father died.
Q: Do you see this as related to your work now on the Greene case?
A: I’m not involved in this case because of the foundation, but certainly the circumstances are very similar. Having been a kid who lost a parent, I’m very motivated to help others who are in a similar situation. … I look at Jonathan and he reminds me of my younger brothers.
Q: Is the charity a nice break from the grind of legal work?
A: It’s a really good balance for me. The charity makes people really happy. The law firm makes people really miserable (laughs). … That being said, it’s much easier to be president of a law firm than the president of a charity.
Q: Why?
A: Because it’s much easier to take people’s money than it is to ask for it.
Q: What can people look forward to at these events?
A: It should be really good to come out and golf before Tiger Woods takes the green over for the big event (Oakland Hills is hosting the 90th PGA Championship in August). How many times are you going to be able to golf on the same course that the champs are?
For information on Norman Yatooma’s charity and upcoming events, call 888-987-5437 or visit www.forthekidsfoundation.org. Contact ALEX P. KELLOGG at 248-351-3693 or akellogg@freepress.com.
