Fire service donation goes to Twin Towers families (From Stroud News and Journal)

Fire service donation goes to Twin Towers families

THE families of American firefighters killed or injured as a result of the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11 are to benefit from £60,000 collected in Gloucestershire.

The county's Fire Service this week handed over almost £70,000 of Gloucestershire donations to two charities working with the families of victims of September 11.

Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Gloucestershire County Council's cabinet member responsible for the Fire Service, presented cheques for £60,000 and £9,009 respectively to Williams-Pyro Incorporated Firefighters Fund (WPIFF) and the Fire Services Youth Training Association (FSTYA), following a staggering wave of giving by the people of the county, prompted by the World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks last year.

"What the Service has wanted to achieve with these donations is to establish a tangible link between the county and some of the families that have suffered at the hands of the terrorists, rather than just put them into a massive communal fund," said Cllr Hilton.

"What is more, all the money raised is going directly to the families concerned."

WPIFF works with the families of American firefighters killed or injured in the line of duty, and has allocated the £60,000 to the bereaved families of seven firefighters - all from the same fire station in Brooklyn, New York.

"In gathering information about the families left behind," said WPIFF spokesperson Rebecca Walton, "We discovered a large discrepancy in the amount of help received by the families of Brooklyn firefighters versus Manhattan firefighters."

And thanking the county for its generosity, she said: "This money will make a huge difference to the seven families of this closely-knit station since, to my knowledge, they have not been offered any extra help, to date, outside of their official benefits."

In contrast, FSTYA is an UK-based charity, working with young people by using the Fire Service as a positive role model.

Their chairman Anne Waters said the money would be put towards the costs of bringing a group of youngsters over from New York, all expenses paid, to attend the organisations summer camp in August, and also to spend some time with host families throughout the country.