By Lindsay Lowe Parade
(L-R): Michael Lynch, Betty Ong, Shelley Marshall(Michael Lynch Memorial Foundation/ Betty Ann Ong Foundation/ The Family of Shelley Marshall)
The Betty Ann Ong Foundation
Ong was a flight attendant on Flight 11, and the information she conveyed to the American Airlines ground crew during the hijacking helped investigators identify the terrorists on board. The foundation established in her name helps children learn about healthy eating, exercise, and overcoming the challenges of obesity.
The Shelley A. Marshall Foundation
This organization funds intergenerational nursing home tea parties, children’s story hours, art workshops, and other events to commemorate Marshall, who worked at the Pentagon. “A few months after 9/11, I was cleaning out our car and I found her notepad,” her husband Donn Marshall told Parade. “The last thing she had written was, ‘We have only a finite number of days on earth — make them extraordinary and fill them with passion.’”
The Michael Lynch Memorial Foundation
This charity has granted $4.6 million in scholarships in honor of Lynch, a New York firefighter who died in the South Tower. The scholarships are geared toward college-bound children who are children of 9/11 victims, as well as “children of active, retired, and deceased New York City firefighters.”
Peter C. Alderman Foundation
Peter was a 25-year-old Bloomberg employee attending a conference in the North Tower on September 11. His parents, Elizabeth and Stephen Alderman, founded this organization in his memory with the mission of helping heal the emotional wounds of victims of terrorism and violence around the world. “About eight months after his death we realized that Pete was killed because of terrorism,” the Aldermans wrote in a 2009 memoir, “and if we could help those people who had survived terrorism, war or torture, but were still unable to live their lives, then this was the perfect memorial for Peter.”
The Johnny Mac Foundation
John McNamara was a New York City firefighter and first responder who died from 9/11-related stage 4 colon cancer in 2009, which was linked to the 500+ hours he spent cleaning up the rubble from the World Trade Center site. The foundation founded in his name helps New York City firefighters and is also working to build a community center in Blue Point, NY.
The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation
Stephen Siller, a New York City firefighter, had just finished his shift in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when he heard the first plane had hit the Twin Towers. He “drove his truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, but it was already closed,” says the foundation’s website, “so he strapped 60 pounds of gear to his back, rushed on foot through gridlocked traffic and ran from the Tunnel to the Towers, where he gave up his life while saving others.” The organization founded in his name helps seriously injured first responders and soldiers regain their independence.
The Jérôme Lohez Foundation
This organization honors Jérôme Robert Lohez, a French citizen who died in the North Tower, and offers scholarships “specifically to [promote] educational and cultural exchange among the U.S., France, and China.
Note: There are of course, hundreds of September 11th family foundations. Please click here to tell us about your foundation.
