September 16, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
Three years after its creation, the $540-million September 11 Fund has announced it will close its doors at the end of this year, after helping thousands of victims of the terrorist attacks.
The fund, created by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City just hours after the attacks in 2001, collected money from more than two million donors. The fund was one of several charities, including the American Red Cross, that received intense scrutiny from members of Congress and the news media after they were criticized for not spending enough money on the victims of the attacks.
To date, officials say, the September 11 Fund has helped more than 100,000 people affected by the disasters in New York, Washington, and Somerset County, Pa. The fund provided cash assistance to family members of people who died in the attacks, and financed free legal counseling and grants to help nonprofit groups located near the disaster sites.
While the organization will officially close in December, certain services, such as its 9/11 Mental Health and Substance Abuse program, which is run by the Red Cross, will continue indefinitely.
In addition to the aid it provided, Franklin Thomas, chairman of the fund’s board, said the nonprofit organization’s work should serve as a model for responses to emergencies.
“By collaborating with government agencies, other charities, and individuals who were affected, the fund invented new ways of helping people that hopefully will become models for coordinated assistance in the future,” he said in a statement.
