As many of you know, I haven't had a lot to smile about lately.  The past couple of months have seen the death of my godmother, the loss of 40 colleagues and friends in the WTC and the loss of my fiance three days before Thanksgiving.  Been trying to maintain a positive attitude, but that is easier said then done.

Here are some stories I received from our Department's call center staff who have been fielding donations for the World Trade Center Relief Fund.  They brought a tear to my eye, the first one which wasn't from a sense of grief in a long time.  I hope they make you feel as good about America as I do.

Donation stories:

1.  A couple donated $2,000, the cost of the cruise they cancelled because of 9/11.

2.  Several people gave their federal rebate check amounts because they figured it was Afound money@ and someone else needed it more.

3.  An older gentleman from the western part of the country called and donated $23.97 because that was all the extra money he had left that month and wanted to give what he could.  He was in tears.

4.  A mother told of how her mentally handicapped son came up with the idea to make flag pins.  He made them and sold them on his own.  He raised over $200.  She was so proud of him she was crying.  

5.  A young man in college had a very limited amount of credit left on his credit card, $29.50 to be exact and he donated all but $5.00.  He said that the little money he could provide would hopefully be able to help in some small way.

6.  A mother called to say her twins, a boy and girl ran a lemonade stand where they made $14.00 to donate to the fund.

7.  A group of homeless people from NYC who stated they would go without food or shelter to give a little for this disaster.

8.  A man on the street in NYC played his harmonica for 24 hours straight and took donations.

9.  One call was hard to understand because he was crying so hard.  It turned out he was a 94 year old man who called to donate $10.00.  

10.  A 10 year old girl who was emptying her piggy bank called and wanted to know where to send the money.  She asked about the different funds, how the money would be spent and would the kids of the victims get some assistance from her money.

11.  Saturday night, September 15th a group of 13 year old girls at a sleepover in New Jersey called to say they were donating their allowance and wanted to help in any way they could, answering phones, passing out water to the volunteers, etc.  Each one of the six of them got on the phone to give their names and addresses and express their thoughts and feelings.

back on up, because i love our country!

damn it, man, you got me all misty eyed!

If it makes anyone feel better, the World Trade Center Relief Fund has zero overhead costs and gives every penny donated to the victims families.  I shouldn't say there are zero overhead costs, but they don't come out of the donations themselves.

The World Trade Center Relief Fund is administered by the State of New York.  Donations to the call center actually flow into another state call center already staffed by state employees who do this work voluntarily, in addition to their regular paid duties.  The bank who proceeses the donations has waived all fees.  The application process is two pages long and consists of proving the death of the family member and then your relationship to him.  No means testing and left to the arbitrary judgement of some charity's employee.

We had checks going out the door before most charities even had their guidelines drawn up.