by Jane K. Dove

Four years after it happened, memories of the events of September 11, 2001 remain extraordinarily vivid. Few will ever forget the image of the once-proud twin towers of Manhattan’s World Trade Center burning their way towards collapse against the bright blue sky of that late summer day. Other images come readily to mind. The billboards plastered with the faces of lost loved ones. The brave army of rescue and recovery workers laboring tirelessly on the site for weeks on end. The flag draped coffins carried reverently from the rubble. And the unprecedented outpouring of support and assistance rendered by a vast array of individuals and organizations.

Lions clubs can be proud that they provided assistance from day one to aid in the rescue, recovery efforts and the renewal of the lives of thousands of persons throughout the United States who were directly affected by the trauma of that horrific day. The Lions Clubs International Foundation collected $3,200,000 from Lions around the world and used the funds to provide immediate, interim, and extended relief for rescue workers, survivors and their families. Work started right after the terrorist attack and has now almost ended. Following is a brief review of Lions efforts.

Immediate Response
“Lions began responding to the tragedy of September 11 the same day it happened,” said Past International Director Bob Klein, who ultimately headed the overall relief effort under the umbrella of the LCIF 9/11 Disaster Central Steering Committee. “I remember speaking to Peter Lynch, who was the manager of LCIF at the time, and requesting that an emergency relief fund be established immediately.” Lynch had already contacted Immediate Past International President Jean Behar and arranged for $100,000 in seed money from LCIF to be made available the same day. A designated fund, the 9/11 World Trade Center Disaster Fund, came into being and even to this day is the financial resource for the work done by Lions Clubs International.

On the local level, Lions from the areas affected by the disaster began fundraising in their own communities. “This was mainly for financial assistance to affected families,” said Past Director Klein. “They knew that the need would be great and did not waste any time.”

To ensure that all relief activities would be well developed, properly coordinated and funds properly distributed, LCIF and Klein, formed an ad hoc committee. Within days, Klein contacted the leading Lions official in each of the multiple districts affected by the disaster. These included New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, including the metropolitan Washington D.C. area. Two members from each multiple district were selected to become part of the central committee. That committee began work on November 7, 2001 and has continued to deliberate through the current time. With only $50,000 left in the account, the work is nearly finished.

In New York, Klein contacted Council Chairperson John Wargo. “John and I had worked out a plan using a model developed by the Lions of Districts R-2, K-1, K-2, and S for creating a special committee just for New York. The first meeting of all MD 20 governors took place about one week later. The result was the creation of the MD 20 WTC Steering Committee and a complete plan of action that was extremely detailed and ultimately highly effective.”

The plan developed for New York State was so well conceived that many of the programs it implemented became models for the other affected areas. “We had a wonderful crew working with us,” Wargo said. “We made an immediate determination of what needed to be done and how to do it. For example, we quickly established a web site to provide information to victims and families of 9/11. The entire effort was fast and effective.”

On the larger stage, the Lions Clubs 9/11 Disaster Central Steering Committee recommended a similar network of programs for the affected states which was very effective and created mechanisms for distributing funds to those in need.  Because this was a living disaster, the committee made an early decision—streamline the usual LCIF grant approval process, get the help to where it was needed, yet use “due diligence” in every case, and allow the committee chairperson, as fund administrator, to authorize distribution.  

“We never paid a penny directly to a single individual,” Klein said. “We were very, very careful with the money we collected. We did our homework in every area of the relief effort, and I am happy to say that we did the job the right way.  All monies used from the Disaster Fund were carefully managed and were distributed as grants using LCIF processes.”

New York Effort
On the day the Twin Towers fell, Wargo was serving as chairperson of the Multiple District 20 Council of Governors Chairperson. “The immediate reaction was shock and disbelief,” Wargo said. “We were caught up in a tangle of conflicting reports, a growing awareness of the magnitude and consequences of the event, and a lack of ability to communicate because of downed phones.”

But the shock did not last for long. “That very same evening, we started to network,” he said. “Bob Klein applied for and received a $10,000 emergency grant from LCIF for MD 20. We started fielding e-mails from across the state suggesting ways the Lions could help. One week later, the council of governors created the MD 20 Steering Committee to coordinate the efforts we knew we would be making.”

New York Lions mobilized to collect supplies that would be needed for workers. “Soon after, we got socks, batteries, boots, spare clothing, breathing masks and dozens of other basic items assembled and delivered to a donated warehouse on Spring Street, not far from the site,” Wargo said. “Specialty tools needed by the workers at the WTC and the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island were purchased by the Lions 9/11 Fund to the tune of $200,000 to assist in the recovery operations. People from all over the country donated goods and worked at the warehouse over a period of about eight months. Local fire and police personnel came to get needed items on a daily basis. Everything we had was very practical and very much needed.” Wargo estimated that about 500 Lions and non-Lions put in at least 5,000 volunteer hours at the warehouse. “We had people come from as far away as Mississippi to volunteer,” he said. “We even had one gentleman who came from England.” The success of the warehouse was enhanced by the LCIF donations made to cover the extended rental costs of the location, which amounted to $20,000 per month.

In addition, LCIF purchased seven large retrofitted shipping containers for relief efforts. “These were used for a variety of different purposes,” Wargo said. “The New York Office of Emergency Management used one of them for its staff, literally ‘behind the fences,’ and the others were used in different locations for sleeping and warming centers for the workers at the site. One was sent to the Fresh Kills Landfill, where victim identification was conducted.  Another was used as a temporary kennel for rescue dogs.”

Wargo said that one of the most important roles of the committee was establishing a Financial Assistance Program for people without funds due to the death of loved ones, loss of jobs, and economic reversal. In MD 20, sub-committees were established to review the dozens of applications requesting financial help. These committees used the standardized LCIF 9/11 Central Committee criteria to qualify victims for assistance. No cash was given to those who qualified--all approved bills were paid directly to the entities to which the victims owed money. 

District of Columbia Area Effort
Past District 24-A Governor Glenn Ryburn of northern Virginia was on his way to work at the Pentagon when the plane struck the complex. “I was listening to what was happening in New York on my car radio and was on the crest of a hill near the Pentagon,” he recalled. “I saw a plume of smoke. Traffic came to a dead halt. I turned around, drove home listening to the radio, walked into the house and got on the phone.”

Ryburn and his fellow Lions got out their credit cards and immediately purchased basic supplies they thought would be needed at the Pentagon. “The Salvation Army set up a rescue station and we took things there,” he said. “That night, we called LCIF and got an immediate $10,000 grant.”

As the days unfolded, D.C. area Lions began to look towards the other needs of survivors. “A lot of people lost their incomes and some homes were financially threatened,” Ryburn said. “We helped out a lot in this area. And then came the anthrax scare. We provided help to several families affected by this. For example, one victim was in the hospital for eight months, unable to meet his expenses. We helped many families with things like mortgage payments, utility and phone bills, and even donated a used car to one affected postal worker.”
The Lions direct financial assistance efforts continued for about eight months. They then began reaching out into other areas.

“We sought out families that needed help in unique ways,” Ryburn said. “For example, I remember us providing a laptop computer for a student off to college whose family couldn’t afford it because of the aftereffects of the disaster. When these types of special needs were expressed, we always tried to find ways to answer them.”

As with other districts in 9/11-affected areas, the LCIF Central Steering Committee connected the Friendship Ambassador’s Foundation with Ryburn’s district to provide healing retreats for the families of victims. Two extremely successful retreats have been held to date at the Coolfont Center in West Virginia with one more scheduled.  Dozens of directly affected families have been helped, with representatives of Congress, the Pentagon, and the State Department participating. 

“Our efforts post 9/11 pretty much guided my life for quite a while,” Ryburn said. “That first year I had a single purpose. It was tremendously fulfilling, an experience that shaped my days and changed me for the better.”
         
Friendship Ambassadors Foundation
Although the emergency, short-term needs following September 11 were many, the 9/11 Central Steering Committee knew that long-term healing would also be very important. Following a search for an agency that would provide therapeutic assistance, the Committee contacted the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (FAF) to discuss establishing a series of programs to help young people and families cope with their losses.

FAF is an international cultural exchange program established in 1973. Lions worked with FAF Executive Director Patrick Sciarratta to help found “Finding New Hope,” a program that uses the arts and person-to-person cultural exchange to help victims of trauma. The program utilizes various disciplines of art and creativity as well as psychotherapy to promote healing, growth and empowerment.

“The Lions provided us with an initial $50,000 grant in the summer of 2002,” said Sciarratta. ”We started out with a camping program for young people at Camp Mara, in Putnam Valley, New York. We drew more than 100 participants for our first effort.” Sciarratta said that from that point on, the Lions offered his organization the opportunity to establish of variety of other programs dedicated to healing and reconciliation.

To date there have been four youth camps and 18 family retreats held in New York, New England, the Washington, D.C. area, Connecticut, and California. More have been planned for the fall of 2005. The LCIF Emergency Fund has granted over $1.3 million in funding to support these incredible human relations camps. Between 700 and 800 individuals affected by 9/11 have participated in FAF programs supported by the Lions. “Our goal was to promote reconciliation and healing through art and art therapy,” he said. “The Lions have been wonderful and have enabled us to help hundreds of youngsters and families come to terms with their loss.”

Camp Sunshine
In addition to FAF camps, Lions have also sent many youngsters to Camp Sunshine to help them cope with loss. Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, is headquartered in Casco, Maine. In addition to Maine, the camps operate in Massachusetts, New York, and West Virginia. The Lions funded over $200,000 for special programs for the children and families of 9/11 victims. Thanks to these efforts, more than 300 children plus surviving parents and grandparents have attended the camps over the past three years.

Leveraging Through Partnerships
As the committee moved further away from programs of direct assistance to families, decisions needed to be made by the Central Steering Committee about how to use funds to broaden outreach efforts. At one of the 2002 Central Steering Committee meetings, a motion was adopted to request grant proposals from non-profit agencies already working with survivor groups. The goal was to fund new 9/11-related assistance activities for their clientele. “We wanted to leverage our influence to the maximum extent possible,” Klein indicated. “The six grants went to organizations to provide practical assistance like job retraining for displaced workers. They were all for programs that would help people renew and improve their lives in the wake of the tragedy.”

Through the efforts of Peter Lynch, the committee received 16 proposals. Subcommittees reviewed all proposals, based on the earlier established criteria. They recommended six for funding, and each agency received a $100,000 grant. “We selected these organizations for funding based on the quality of their proposals and the number of people they could help,” Klein said. “All in all our program grants touched the lives of at least 5,000 people. The partnership approach was basic Lions philosophy.”

Editor’s Note. Because of space limitations, it was impossible to include in this article everyone who helped in this international effort. We gratefully acknowledge their contributions, which will be described in a larger historical account currently in production and available in early 2006.