September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. Additional people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks.
New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center resulted in the loss of 2,606 lives, including 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers. At the time, families received a $10,000 death benefit from the charity. Three hundred and fifty families first-responder families now represented an immediate need for $4 million, but in the weeks that followed, this need was met and exceeded. In the months following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, the fund was able to give over $117 million to its beneficiaries.