City leaders raise relief money
Business representatives, mayors work together on campaign to help New York
City political and business leaders are expected today to launch an aggressive, weeklong fund-raising campaign to benefit victims and their families involved in Tuesday's terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
A news conference announcing the effort has been tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m.
Mayors from surrounding communities, in cooperation with representatives from businesses and industries, are collaborating for the campaign, which will run from Monday through Sept. 24 across the area.
At the end of the drive, all the money raised will be delivered in person to the mayor of New York.
''It is a community project the way it is being envisioned,'' said Mayor Bob Young, who is helping coordinate the effort. ''Whether you're a wealthy business person or a child who brings a few pennies to school, we want to give everybody an opportunity to participate.''
Officials still were working Thursday night to come up with a name for the campaign and to set a target amount to be raised.
''We still have a few more meetings to work out the mechanics,'' Mr. Young said Thursday evening.
As money is collected, it will be tallied and reported to the community through various media outlets, he said.
''That way, everybody sees the money accumulating and everybody sees the check and says, 'I'm a part of that,''' Mr. Young said. ''And when the money is delivered, everybody can say, 'I participated in rebuilding the largest city in America.'''
Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215.
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