''I have so much respect for the fire department and other people who risk their lives,'' Mrs. Kennelly said Friday, after a Municipal Building news conference during which she asked Augustans to support recovery efforts in New York.

For her, championing local support is the next best thing to thanking New York firefighters such as her brother, Paul Tegtmeier, who has been missing since Tuesday morning, when he was among the first to respond to plane crashes into the World Trade Center towers.

Mayor Bob Young joined government officials from neighboring cities, religious leaders and area business representatives to announce that Monday will mark the beginning of the city's Care and Prayer Crusade, a weeklong campaign to raise $1 million for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

''Each of us has been touched in some way by the tragedies of this week,'' Mr. Young said.

Augusta Mayor Bob Young launched a weeklong fund-raising campaign to benefit victims and families of Tuesday's terrorist attacks. Joanne Kennelly, along with her husband, Tony, holds a photo of her brother Paul Tegtmeier, a New York City firefighter who has been missing since the attacks on the World Trade Center towers. MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF

''America has always been unselfish in helping others. This time, it's to help our own.''

Mrs. Kennelly and her husband, Tony, who attended the news conference, made an emotional plea to the city to support fund-raising efforts, and also requested residents' prayers for her brother, who was said to be inside one of the Trade Center towers when it collapsed.

''We just keep hoping that we'll find him,'' Mrs. Kennelly said between sobs, holding a picture of herself with her brother taken at a wedding about two years ago.

The Care and Prayer Crusade kicks off officially Monday and will run through Sept. 24. Checks can be made out to Care and Prayer Crusade and can be given to most area banks or sent to the office of the mayor in any Augusta-area city, including Thomson, Grovetown and Waynesboro.

Asahi Ryokuken Inc., the Japanese business sponsoring the LPGA golf tournament this month, donated $25,000 Friday.

As money is collected it will be tallied and reported to the community through various media outlets, Mr. Young said.

The fund is being operated through the CSRA Community Foundation and will be distributed to disaster victims through the Sept. 11 Fund for Family Assistance in New York, which is being administered through the New York Community Trust Fund and the United Way.

''Many people who are not experienced in giving at this point in their lives have a real reason to do so now,'' said Boone Knox, chairman of the Augusta-based Knox Foundation. Mr. Knox came up with the idea of forming a communitywide coalition to help disaster victims shortly after Tuesday's events.

''The thing that really moved me was to see so many of these firemen going in there like it was a grease fire,'' Mr. Knox said, wiping away tears. ''And then for them not to come out again - this is to show how much they mean to us and to the whole country.''

Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215.