Charities and the Terrorist Attacks: Where the Money Went

August 31, 2006 | Read Time: 8 minutes

American Red Cross
Washington
Fund name: Liberty Disaster Relief Fund
Amount raised: $1,002,000,000
Amount spent: $974,900,000
Where the money went: The Liberty Disaster Relief Fund aided nearly 60,000 families affected by the terrorist attacks. The money paid for immediate relief services for people who were injured, aid to families of people who were harmed or killed, and services for recovery workers. The Liberty fund also provided financial assistance to more than 53,000 families, including more than 40,000 people who worked in lower Manhattan and lost either income or their jobs due to the events of September 11. The fund stopped soliciting gifts in October 2001.

AmeriCares Foundation
New Canaan, Conn.
Fund names: AmeriCares Heroes’ Fund, Aid for Terrorist Attack Victims
Amount raised: $9,200,000
Amount spent: $9,200,000
Where the money went: Some $5.3-million was distributed to the Twin Towers Fund, and $3.6-million to Catholic Charities of New York. The money, raised by AmeriCares through two fundsthe AmeriCares Heroes’ Fund and Aid for Terrorist Attack victimspaid to deliver medical supplies and other equipment to groups providing medical aid to those who were harmed. The funds stopped soliciting contributions in 2002.

Army Emergency Relief
Alexandria, Va.
Fund name: Pentagon Victims Fund
Amount raised: $5,500,000
Amount spent: $5,500,000
Where the money went: The Pentagon Victims Fund gave much of the money it raised to help pay for the education of victims’ survivors. The fund spent $3.2-million on children’s scholarships, and an additional $1.5-million to surviving spouses’ educational expenses. The remainder of the money paid for travel, funeral, educational, mortgage, and general living expenses for soldiers who were injured in the attack on the Pentagon, as well as for the families of those who died. The fund stopped soliciting donations in 2002.

Catholic Charities USA
Alexandria, Va.
Fund name: Terrorist Attack Relief Fund
Amount raised: $32,006,630
Amount spent: $32,006,630
Where the money went: The Terrorist Attack Relief Fund distributed all contributions to local Catholic Charities affiliates providing immediate and long-term assistance to families affected by the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Recovery services paid for by the fund included direct financial assistance to victims’ families, employment services and job training, mental-health counseling and support groups, and legal counseling for survivors. The fund stopped soliciting contributions in 2002.

Community Foundation for the National Capital Area
Washington
Fund name: The Survivors’ Fund
Amount raised: $22,900,000
Amount spent: $17,000,000
Where the money went: The Survivors’ Fund is providing long-term medical, educational, and psychological support services to survivors and families of people killed in the attack on the Pentagon. It has provided comprehensive case management to more than 1,000 people over the past five years. About 45 percent of the fund’s cases remain active today. The fund continues to accept contributions, although it plans to commit all its money by March 2007, and cease operations a year later.

Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund
Littleton, Colo.
Fund name: FEEA World Trade Center/Pentagon Fund
Amount raised: $5,000,000
Amount spent: $1,500,000
Where the money went: The FEEA World Trade Center/Pentagon Fund paid travel expenses for families of federal employees killed in the September 11 attacks to attend memorial and burial services and to help them meet their rent obligations, make loan repayments, and pay college tuition. Its remaining funds have been committed to provide full college scholarships for victims’ children; many eligible recipients have not yet enrolled in college. The fund stopped soliciting contributions in 2002.

International Association of Fire Fighters
Washington
Fund name: New York Fire Fighters
9-11 Disaster Relief Fund
Amount raised: $167,600,245
Amount spent: Not available
Where the money went: The New York Fire Fighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund provided financial assistance to the families of firefighters who were killed. The International Association of Fire Fighters would not disclose how much of the fund has been spent to date. The fund no longer solicits donations.

Kiwanis International Foundation
Indianapolis
Fund name: 911 Victims Children’s Fund
Amount raised: $1,800,000
Amount spent: $1,770,000
Where the money went: The 911
Victims Children’s Fund provided short-term expenses such as day care and groceries, as well as long-term expenses such as college tuition. The Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund received $30,000 to assist the families of restaurant workers who died in the attacks. The Kiwanis fund also provided $90,000 to send children who lost a family member in the attacks to a camp in upstate New York. The fund continues to accept contributions.

Lions Clubs International Foundation
Oak Brook, Ill.
Fund name: The September 11
Disaster Relief Fund
Amount raised: $3,200,000
Amount spent: $3,100,000
Where the money went: The September 11 Disaster Relief Fund awarded $100,000 each to six New York organizations that helped people who lost relatives or jobs in the attacks. The fund also provided $400,000 for short- term financial assistance for victims, supplies for relief workers in New York and Washington, and a warehouse to store the aid. The remainder of the money supported long-term programs to retrain, educate, and counsel people affected directly by the September 11 attacks. The fund also sponsored two dozen camp programs for the children of victims, and spent $80,000 to purchase nine temporary shelters that gave recovery workers a place to rest. The fund stopped soliciting contributions in 2002.

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society
Arlington, Va.
Fund name: Pentagon Assistance Fund
Amount raised: $7,200,000
Amount spent: $7,200,000
Where the money went: The Pentagon Assistance Fund provides financial aid for the college education of dependent children and spouses of Navy and Marine Corps personnel killed during the attack on the Pentagon and during Operation Enduring Freedom. The fund no longer solicits donations, though the society says that the rising cost of education may cause it to seek donations to pay for the education of children and spouses who have not yet enrolled in college.

New York City Mayor’s Office
Fund name: Twin Towers Fund
Amount raised: $216,000,000
Amount spent: $216,000,000
Where the money went: The Twin Towers Fund spent its money on direct aid to families of firefighters, police officers, and other government workers who died or were injured in the September 11 attacks. The fund made direct grants to more than 1,400 individuals and 438 families, according to a 2004 New York Times report. The fund also established scholarships for the spouses and children of victims and injured survivors, and created a summer camp for the children of victims. The fund closed in 2003.

New York City Police Foundation
Fund name: Heroes Fund
Amount raised: $11,000,000
Amount spent: $9,400,000
Where the money went: The Heroes Fund has distributed $9.4-million to help meet the financial, physical, and psychological needs of police personnel and their families, as well as the emergency needs of the New York City Police Department. The remaining money will support mental-health services for police personnel and other police-department needs. The fund no longer solicits contributions.

New York Community Trust and United Way of New York City
New York
Fund name: September 11th Fund
Amount raised: $534,216,000
Amount spent: $527,919,498
Where the money went: The September 11th Fund has distributed 559 grants, including more than $451.7-million in cash assistance and social-services aid, such as employment assistance, case management, health care, and legal and financial advice. The grants also included $54-million for community rebuilding projects, $10.9-million for organizations that serve children and youth, and $9.8-million for rescue and recovery efforts. The New York Community Trust took over as sole administrator of the fund in 2004. The fund no longer solicits donations, but expects to continue to pay its grants until 2010.

New York State
Albany
Fund name: New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund
Amount raised: $70,000,000
Amount spent: $70,000,000
Where the money went: To aid families and dependents of victims of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and of the plane crash in Pennsylvania. The New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund no longer solicits contributions.

Robin Hood Foundation
New York
Fund name: Robin Hood Relief Fund
Amount raised: $64,500,000
Amount spent: $64,500,000
Where the money went: To more than 100 organizations that serve low- income New Yorkers and people in the New York metropolitan area affected by the terrorist attacks. The Robin Hood Relief Fund stopped soliciting donations in 2004.

Salvation Army
Alexandria, Va.
Fund names: National Disaster Fund, Operation Compassion Under Fire, Operation Noble Eagle
Amount raised: $86,000,000
Amount spent: $86,000,000
Where the money went: The three funds have distributed $86-million to help attack survivors and the families of people who died on September 11 pay for housing, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, and other needs. The funds stopped soliciting donations in 2002.

Scholarship America
St. Peter, Minn.
Fund name: Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund
Amount raised: $125,000,000
Amount spent: $13,400,000
Where the money went: The Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund helps pay for the postsecondary education of the children and spouses of those killed or severely injured in the September 11 attacks. Many eligible recipients have not yet enrolled in college, thus most of the money has not yet been spent. The fund no longer solicits contributions.

United Jewish Communities
New York
Fund name: UJC Emergency Relief Fund
Amount raised: $5,625,893
Amount spent: $5,707,625
Where the money went: The UJC Emergency Relief Fund gave to other social-services providers in communities where the families of terrorist attack victims lived. These organizations providedand continue to provide psychological counseling and support, along with scholarships for camps and schools and special education. (The figure for the amount spent includes interest earned on the funds raised, and thus exceeds the amount raised.) The fund no longer solicits contributions.

United Methodist Committee on Relief
New York
Amount raised: $20,839,194
Amount spent: $20,648,542
Where the money went: The group gave to local, national, and international projects. Long-term case management was offered to victims’ families in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. The charity also supported legal aid for immigrants affected by the terrorist attacks and resulting security issues. The organization also spent donations on post-war reconstruction in Afghanistan, and on small grass-roots projects to encourage understanding among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The charity stopped seeking donations in 2002 for its September 11 recovery efforts, though some related projects are still active.

World Vision and Concerts of Prayer of Greater New York
Federal Way, Wash., and Long Island City, N.Y.
Fund name: American Families Assistance Fund
Amount raised: $12,541,100
Amount spent: $12,541,100
Where the money went: The American Families Assistance Fund provided training for trauma counselors, grants for spouses and children of firefighters and police officers who were killed as a result of the attacks, and assistance to people who lost family members in the events of September 11 or became unemployed. The fund stopped soliciting contributions in 2002.