This appendix describes five of the largest charities that provided benefits specifically to emergency responders in New York City after 9/11.
Twin Towers Fund
The Twin Towers Fund stated in its 2002 annual report that it had collected $209 million and distributed $196 million to 438 eligible families ($477,000 per family). It planned to distribute the remaining funds by mid-2003 and would then apply for dissolution under New York State law (The Twin Towers Fund, 2002, p. 2). The Twin Towers Fund heavily focused its financial distributions on the families of emergency responders with young dependents and allocated specific resources to an ongoing scholarship program and to a series of camps for the children of the deceased and seriously injured. It used a relatively broad definition of eligible beneficiary. For example, eligible claimants included same-sex partners and nonmarried partners as long as the prospective claimant could demonstrate a substantial commingling of bank accounts, leases, and other financial documents.
The New York Firefighters Disaster Relief Fund
The New York Firefighters Disaster Relief Fund was created one day after the Sep- tember 11 attack by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the Uni- formed Firefighters Association of N.Y. Local 94, and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association of N.Y. Local 854. This fund had collected $162 million as of November 2002 (Fessenden, 2002) and has distributed most of the funds. Each FDNY family received $463,000 (paid out in a number of smaller payments). This fund stopped collecting donations as of October 2002. The IAFF continued to solicit funds on a much smaller scale to support a counseling fund that would provide mental health services for both September 11 families, as well as the families of firefighters affected by any future tragedies of this kind.
154 Compensation for Losses from the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
The New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund
The New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund was established in 1985 by former New York Mets pitcher Daniel J. “Rusty” Staub to assist the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty (New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Fund, 2003). The charity was initially created to assist solely the families of police officers and firefighters. After the September 11 attacks, this organization expanded its reach to include the families of Port Authority officers and emergency medical specialist (EMS) personnel.
The charity raised more than $115 million and distributed $53 million in the 18 months following 9/11 to the families of deceased uniformed emergency respond- ers (including Port Authority and EMS personnel).1 Through September 2002, it
distributed $100,000 per surviving widow, with an additional distribution of $18,000 planned for October 2002. The benefit fund decided to make widows of officers slain in the line of duty prior to 9/11 eligible for funds collected after Sep- tember 11. It made a one-time $30,000 distribution to each “historical widow” as of September 2002 and planned to distribute an additional $8,000 per historical widow. The fund plans to distribute between 2003 and 2012 the remainder of the $115 million that it had raised. Unlike many of the other charities that stopped ac- cepting donations for September 11–related victims, this organization as of 2003 was still actively soliciting donations to meet the financial needs of these widows for the duration of their lives.
The New York Police Department Foundation Heroes Fund
The New York Police Department Foundation, an organization that predated 9/11 by 30 years, found itself well positioned to step in and assist the families of NYPD personnel lost in the attack on the WTC. Prior to September 11, the foundation mainly provided services rather than distributed cash. However, the foundation was a reputable place to send money intended for distribution to the families of the de- ceased and seriously injured within the ranks of the NYPD. The foundation’s Heroes Fund provided financial assistance, mental health programs, a resource center for NYPD families, and a variety of programs aimed at replacing lost protective gear and equipment (such as damaged vests). The Heroes Fund distributed $1.5 million di- rectly to NYPD families who lost a family member in the attack. The New York Po- lice Department Foundation also established COPE, a free and confidential mental health program in collaboration with Columbia University and the New York- ____________
Charitable Programs for Emergency Responders 155
Presbyterian Hospital. COPE provided thousands of NYPD employees and their families counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder following the attacks.
The Port Authority Police World Trade Disaster Survivors Fund
The Port Authority Police Benevolent Association set up its own separate charity to assist with meeting the needs of the families of the 37 victims who were Port Authority police. The Port Authority Police World Trade Disaster Survivors Fund had collected $13 million by 2003. A contribution in the amount of $125,000 was dispersed to each family in 2001. Most of the remaining funds were to be put into trust funds for each of the 63 children of the deceased Port Authority police who were under the age of 23 on 9/11. The Port Authority Policy Benevolent Association intended to make this relief fund a permanent part of the labor union, so that in the event of a future act of terrorism or other disaster it would be ready to address the needs of affected union families.
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