What we hope to accomplish is to build on what we did last November when we had the first tournament. When we did the first event it was a very different time. We started barely 45 days after the bombing and we finished the event at the end of November in less than 90 days. Ground Zero may not even had been named yet. The fires beneath the rubble were still burning. The list of casualties was still growing. There were estimates still much higher than the unbelievable high number of actual dead, over 3,000 victims. The city was an entire memorial. Every fire station was its own shrine, with civilians leaving flowers constantly. Afghanistan was still in the future. The fears were very fresh. We had just had another plane ironically fall out of the skies over the homes of our police and firefighters who had survived the first attack ....unbelievable stuff.
One ray of light was how generous the public had been. The American people opened up their hearts and they also opened up their pocket books and gave and gave. Over a billion and a half dollars were donated on behalf of the victims and their families. This was the back drop of the times. Pain, sorrow, depression, fear (not knowing if they where going to strike again) and for a while, the biggest betrayal of all was taking shape. That the one and only thing we as ordinary people had done and could do to show our love, sorrow and support for the victims and their families was the money we had donated. As time passed, it was becoming clearer that the money was going to be kept and used by the large charitable organizations to further their own agendas and in their own time frame. This prospect was just unbelievable and unacceptable. It was adding insult to a horrible injury.
A small group of us wanted to do something, perhaps naïve, but something. First, we wanted to raise money and give it directly to a victim's family and second, to show others that if we could do it, so can anyone else. Those were our goals . . . very simple. We laid out a plan and we went for it. For the most part it was a successful. We tried to get media attention, some governmental involvement and support but weren't able to do much in that department. But we actually did accomplish what we set out to do, which was to raise and give money directly to a family. Something which all the large charities were having such a hard time doing. After the tournament was over and the ceremony was concluded, several people came to us and suggested we make this an annual event. So, that's what we are trying to do. Create an annual Golf Tournament to raise some money, awareness and connection to Sept 11 and all that it represents. We need your support, participation and ideas.
Thank You for your help,
Second Annual
Sept 11 Memorial Golf Tournament
