Twin Towers Orphan Fund, founded on Sept. 12, 2001, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public benefit organization, Fed. Tax ID# 57-1197371.
All donations are fully
tax-deductible.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For additional information contact:
Michele Weaver
(661) 633-9076
michele@ttof.org
JUNE 26, 2006
SURVEY: CHILDREN OF 9/11 STILL GRIEVING
NEW YORK - Still grieving for their losses, nearly three quarters (75 percent) of those who lost a loved one on 9/11 said the greatest challenges in raising a child who lost a parent that day is the mental health or emotional challenges they face, according to a study of victim's families conducted by Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research for the Twin Towers Orphan Fund, Inc.
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 If you know of a child who lost a parent on September 11, 2001,
please register with Twin Towers Orphan Fund.
This will help TTOF identify and qualify those children who are in most need of our help -- now and in the future.
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The survey evaluated financial security, ongoing challenges and quality of life issues of the Twin Towers Orphan Fund children. It also surveyed 803 adult Americans at large regarding attitudes towards the nation's responsibility to help the children who lost parents on 9/11.
Looking ahead, 92 percent of families believe that the financial assistance available through charities like the Twin Towers Orphan Fund is as or more important today than ever.
Contrary to popular beliefs and despite significant financial contributions from governmental and charitable organizations, one in three families (33 percent) say they are actually less financially secure today than they were before 9/11. More than half (56 percent) say they are relying on charities like the Twin Towers Orphan Fund to provide the financial assistance necessary to send their children to college.
According to Michele Weaver, President of the Twin Towers Orphan Fund, "Parents are concerned their children are not being provided the tools they need to one day get into an institution of higher learning. It is hard enough these children are still coping with such a great loss. The economic setbacks of the tragedy make a bad thing even worse by hindering these children's chances of ever going to college."
The majority of children were very young at the time of the attacks. Single parents, 95 percent of which are mothers, are raising 90 percent of the children. When coupled with the psychological and scholastic difficulties these children face, the need for assistance from charitable organizations like the Twin Towers Orphan Fund assistance becomes even greater.
The good news, according to Ms. Weaver, is that "Americans continue to support our efforts."
The study of the general U.S. population reveals that seven in 10 adults (70 percent) agreed that, "as a nation, we have a duty to ensure the children of 9/11 receive the psychological counseling and scholastic tutoring they need today, if they are ever to attend college." The same number (71 percent) agreed that, "as a nation, we have a duty to ensure that the children of 9/11 have the resources necessary to obtain a higher education."
"Our mission is to help ensure that these contributions benefit the families who need it most so that these children get the opportunities they deserve," Weaver said.
The survey was conducted by telephone during the month of August 2005. The margin of error for families interviews was plus or minus nine percentage points and plus or minus three percentage points for general public interviews.
The Twin Towers Orphan Fund was founded on September 12, 2001, for the sole purpose of providing educational and welfare assistance to the children who were orphaned (who lost one or both parents) by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The mission of the Twin Towers Orphan Fund is to provide long-term higher educational assistance and mental and physical health care assistance for children who lost parents in the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, or onboard the four downed airliners, and children of victims of future terrorist attacks.
The Twin Towers Orphan Fund has allocated $2.2 million for mental and physical healthcare assistance and has awarded more than $500,000 in direct assistance. It has also distributed more than $3.5 million to fund individual higher educational savings accounts in the names of the child beneficiaries.
The Twin Towers Orphan Fund is an established 501 (c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation based in Bakersfield, Calif. Donations can be made to Twin Towers Orphan Fund, 4800 Easton Drive, Suite 109, Bakersfield, Calif., 93309, or at its website www.ttof.org.
Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research (http://www/luntz.com) is a Washington-based market research and strategic communications firm headed by Frank Luntz, one of Washington's most influential pollsters for the past decade. The company specializes in language development and message testing for issue advocacy, brand positioning, labor negotiations and crisis communications for both public affairs and corporate clients.
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