With this latest development, we relaunched the campaign with even greater national and international attention on September 29 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Major television, radio, and newspaper networks were present to hear the enthusiastic endorsements from both Clinton and Dole and their calls for support from people in widening circles of awareness. Several major corporate grants were announced at the event. Other funders jumped in quickly. Scholarship America staff, operating in our offices in both St. Peter and Minneapolis, had already set up a phone bank to take donations and answer calls. Online donations were ready to be accepted as well. Long-term partners of Scholarship America stepped forward. For example, Daimler Chrysler made donations totaling $10.4 million. Many others added major gifts ranging from $100,000 to $1 million or more. The Citigroup Foundation eventually added more than $20 million to the Fund.
Throughout the remainder of 2001 and into 2002, major gifts continued to be forthcoming from corporations and from some surprising places. The NCAA gave a donation of $5 million and several NCAA conferences contributed as did NFL and NBA teams and the Professional Golfers Association. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce, in response to a request from Senator Dole, contributed more than $1 million. Even more amazing were the hundreds of “grassroots” efforts among thousands of individuals who joined in local events to raise money. Youth of all ages held car washes, bake sales, lemonade stands, coin drives, sales of specially decorated lollipops, and high school dances. Elementary schools, high schools, and college students organized fundraisers. Just one example: The Carl Ben Eielson Elementary School in Grand Forks, North Dakota challenged school children throughout the state to join a campaign called “Nickels for New York.” They collected more than $28,600, the equivalent of over one half million nickels!
Adults in hundreds of communities organized benefit dinners, arts and craft shows, musical concerts, dance recitals, fashion shows, charity auctions, horse shows, holiday card productions and sales, artist print sales, golf tournaments, and even a flag football tournament. Run or walk events were held in many communities. The biggest running event was the Nike-sponsored “Run Across America,” with more that 240 volunteers running relay sections for 42 consecutive days, stopping at 40 firehouses from Astoria, Oregon to New York City. They finished at Engine 7 Firehouse in Lower Manhattan. As a result, Nike was able to donate $1 million.
The participation by people and organizations of a variety of religious faiths and ethnic backgrounds became a heartwarming outcome of the campaign. Christian churches nationwide created fundraising events, joined by Jewish synagogues and federations, Islamic Centers. Hindu Temples, Associations of Bangladeshi Women, Iranian American Women, Nigerian American Accountants, and Pakistan Americans, all of whom made important contributions.
Individuals and governments from around the world expressed deep concern for the families of 9/11 as well. President Clinton was influential in a gift of $1 million from India. The Hyogo Prefect of Japan gave $700,000. People of Chinese heritage in America, in response to leadership from The World Journal, the largest Chinese language newspaper in America, gave $720,000 to the fund. In recognizing that nearly thirty Canadian families with more than twenty-five children were impacted by the collapse of the World Trade Center, the St. George’s Society of Toronto, Canada raised $200,000 from its annual Red Rose Ball event. Gifts came from England, Germany, and other countries as well.
A number of American celebrities joined in support. Merrill Osmond of the Osmond Brothers created a special patriotic song album and donated the proceeds to the fund. Richard Petty, the noted NASCAR champion, sponsored a “Richard Petty Driving Experience” to raise funds. Several celebrities held events in the Twin Cities in support of the fund. Barry Manilow gave a sold-out concert at the Historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, with most of the proceeds going to the fund. In May of 2002, Dolly Parton headlined the “Families of Freedom, Families of Promise” promotion and fundraising event in Minneapolis. She was joined by Wintley Phipps, world-renowned Gospel singer and founder of the U.S. Dream Academy, and the Minnesota “Sounds of Blackness” singers.
By the end of August, 2002, our campaign goal of $100 million—a goal we wanted to reach by the first anniversary of 9/11– was within reach. Then, a marvelous and timely major piece of news arrived. Throughout the summer, we had been working closely with Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association on potential significant gifts. They informed us of gifts totaling $8 million between the two groups. These gifts brought the amount raised to $105 million, allowing us to reach and surpass the goal.
On the “Larry King Live” show, September 3 on CNN, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole were able to announce that the goal had been met. They gave thanks to all who contributed and to the work of Scholarship America personnel and so many others in making it happen. More funds continued to pour in over the next week, so by September 11, 2002, we were able to announce a final total of $125 million for the initial year of contributions to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund!
