January 6, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The September 11th Fund, the largest charity created to help the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks, shut down last month after raising millions of dollars as part of an unprecedented charitable effort.
The fund, which was established by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City just hours after the destruction of the World Trade Center, raised $534-million, according to a report the fund issued to mark its closure.
With its money, the September 11th Fund, in New York, provided almost 560 grants to help more than 100,000 people nationwide, providing them with cash and subsidizing job-training programs, mental-health services, and other recovery efforts, the report said.
Carol Kellermann, the group’s chief executive, said that, while the organization has ceased to exist, a “close-out committee” will continue indefinitely to oversee the $10-million to $12-million that has been awarded but remains in the organization’s coffers. “You can’t just walk away. We don’t want any loose ends,” she said.
Preparing for Future
Besides providing figures for the fund’s grant making, the report also includes articles about the charity from its board members, grantees, government officials, and others.
In one article, Eliot Spitzer, New York’s attorney general, said he hoped that in future disasters charities would work in partnerships similar to the fund’s coordination with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other groups after the attacks.
“Initially, many of the charities raised practical barriers to cooperation, including different application procedures, concerns for maintaining privacy, and inadequate staffing to coordinate relief efforts,” he said. But “many of the charities ultimately agreed to work cooperatively.”
While increased cooperation between charities is an important goal, Ms. Kellermann said, nonprofit groups, corporations, and the government have failed to discuss who will support charities in the wake of another terrorist attack. “In the next major disaster, what should be the role of philanthropy and what should be the role of government?” she asked. “I don’t think anyone is really talking about this.”
She said government officials should not assume that foundations, businesses, and individuals automatically will provide as much support if another disaster strikes. “That would be dangerous, if the government said, Well, they did it before, so they’ll do it again,” she said.
The report, “The September 11th Fund Final Report,” is available on the group’s Web site at http://www.september11fund.org.
