Concerns raised over Sept. 11 charity

By Tara Burghart

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Some relatives of the civilian victims of the Sept. 11 attacks fear that the nation’s admiration for firefighters, police and other uniformed rescue workers has created a hierarchy in the distribution of charity.

They also fear their voices have not been heard nearly as clearly as the uniformed victims’ families on issues ranging from the recovery of remains to the establishment of a memorial at the site of the World Trade Center.

Even the memories of the civilian victims, some say, have not been treated with the same level of respect by the media and politicians.

"They had to help each other and be their own heroes and have courage and bravery," said Mary Ellen Salamone, whose husband, John, worked for the bond firm Cantor Fitzgerald and was trapped on a floor above where one hijacked plane hit. "We never got to know that, because those stories died with the people who died in the attacks."

Theresa Riccardelli is trying — unsuccessfully, so far — to qualify for aid from the Twin Towers Fund, which has raised $113 million for the families of the uniformed officers killed in the terrorist attacks. About 410 firefighters, police officers and other uniformed officers died.

"What it comes down to, in essence, is what he was wearing," said Riccardelli, whose husband, Francis, was a non-uninformed supervisor of elevators and stairwells for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owner of the towers.

Survivors have told her that he and several co-workers stayed behind to help others get to safety.

In all, $1.3 billion has been collected in aid available to families of civilian and uniformed victims. In addition to the Twin Towers Fund, charities devoted to uniformed personnel have collected more than $180 million.

But because the charities set up for uniformed personnel have a more limited focus and a smaller number of families to help, they have distributed their money more quickly than general funds such as one run by the Red Cross.

The New York City Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund has raised about $90 million. So far, it has given out lump sum payments of $45,000 each to the families of the 343 firefighters killed, according to Tom LaMacchia, treasurer of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York.

The New York State Fraternal Order of Police Foundation raised $3 million in its WTC Police Disaster Fund and is distributing $25,000 checks each to the families of 72 New York, Port Authority, court and federal officers killed in the attacks.

By contrast, the Red Cross gave out grants averaging $18,000 in its first round of assistance, according to spokeswoman Nancy Retherford.

LaMacchia said he was amazed by the generosity shown to rescue workers. Now, he hopes the financial focus will turn to families of the non-uniformed victims.

"I could never put a dollar amount on anybody’s son or husband, but I do think we have been taken care of," LaMacchia said. "In the end, I think it will be a lot more equal than it looks now."

Fraternal Order of Police foundation president Frank Ferreyra said he knows some families of civilians feel they are being shortchanged.

"Maybe if I was on that side I’d feel the same. But the bottom line is the police officers and firefighters went in there to help those families, to get those people out of the buildings," Ferreyra said.

Distributions from the federal Victims Compensation Fund may also help spread the aid more evenly. Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer overseeing the fund, said equity would be among the issues he would try to address in setting up rules for distribution.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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