STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — It’s the first Have a Heart Foundation golf outing without its founder, Ed Mandrik and his wife, Anna.

What You Need To Know

  • Have a Heart Foundation was founded in 1992

  • Founder Ed Mandrik died of heart complications

  • This is the 18th annual golf outing

  • To donate head to haveaheartfoundation.com

“It was a wonderful thing that my dad did. He helped so many people, so many kids. He was a special guy with a huge heart” said Barbra Mandrik Fread, daughter of Ed and Anna Mandrik.

Ed himself battled heart problems his whole life and succumbed to them in March of 2020. Just five days short of marking a year since his death, Anna Mandrik passed away from cancer. Ed founded the charity in 1992.

“He started the foundation because he actually had a heart attack himself and he noticed there were a lot of kids who had heart issues and their families didn’t either have insurance to cover their procedures," said Ed Mandrik Jr.

For 28 years, Have a Heart Foundation has been holding a golf outing to help raise money for adults and children on Staten Island who are living with heart complications.

Julie Weisslgass Cohen is the co-founder. She says the foundation has given over half a million dollars to heart patients.

“Staten Island has a very high rate of heart disease and disability so we feel that we give a good portion of people a little bit of a better chance at recovery," said Cohen.

Daniel Carsten, a 26-year-old who was born with a heart defect that affects blood flow through the heart, is among those who received help from the foundation.

“From four days old I had my first corrective surgery which was a three surgery process up until I was about four years old. From four to 12 I lived my life relatively healthy thanks to the Have a Heart foundation and at 13 years old I was put on a transplant list and transplanted in February of 2009,” said Carsten.

As Ed Mandrik Jr. and Barbra Mandrik Fread watch over the legacy their parents helped to build, they hope they can continue to help those like Daniel.

“It’s been so many years that they’ve done this and gave their hearts and to be here without them it's very strange but hopefully we can continue and make a very big success out of their cause," said Barbra Mandrik Fread.