Charity Rip-Off for 9/11 Irish Victim?

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Charity Rip-Off for 9/11 Irish Victim?

September 13, 2007

By April Drew

AN Irish-born daughter of a Co. Tipperary carpenter who died in the World Trade Center in 2001 has spoken out about the broken promises made by the “Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund,” a charity set up to guarantee a college education for families who were victims of 9/11.

Ailish Coughlan, 24, was always aware of the charity, which was spearheaded by President Bill Clinton and former Senator Bob Dole weeks after 9/11. The charity has raised over $125 million to send the children and spouses of deceased or disabled people of 9/11 to college. Multi million dollar corporations such as Citigroup and DaimlerChrysler have donated as much as $5 million each.

However, Coughlan, who lives in Brooklyn, only saw $4,000 of the money to study art therapy at NYU. Coughlan told the New York Post last week that her tuition costs her more than $25,000 a year.

“Its was very frustrating and disappointing,” she said.

Coughlan always assumed that the charity, as it promised, would take care of her college tuition because her father died on 9/11. However, she was told she was too old for any more money and as a result Coughlan has a hefty $70,000 in student loans to repay when she finishes school.

To date, the Minnesota-based charity group that launched Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund has only paid out $19 million to 731 people. That means that $104 million remains in their bank account and still donations are flowing in, according to the New York Post.

The goal of the fund says it will distribute all the money to 9/11 victims by 2030, and the remainder will be used for other college scholarships unrelated to 9/11.

The Post reports that Scholarship America’s president, Clifford Stanley, is paid more than $250,000 a year, plus benefits. The charity claims to deduct about 4% of the total distributed to 9/11 families each year for staff and overheads to administer the fund.

Families are required to apply for aid twice a year, proving their need each year. According to static’s from the charity, 3,100 children, spouses, and domestic partners of killed or injured victims and rescue workers have registered to apply in coming years, the charity says.

Families seen as “financially needy” have received as much as $49,500 a year for Ivy League schools they say. Those who don’t need the money, according to the charity, get at least $1,000 as an “honorarium.”

It’s not a free ride, according to Donald Lassere, charity vice president.

“You’re not eligible for a full ride to college just because you were a victim,” said Lassere, “You have to demonstrate financial need.”

Martin Coughlan last spoke to his wife Catherine on the phone from the elevator on the 96th floor of the south tower just after the second hijacked plane plunged into the skyscraper complex. The Coughlans lived in Queens with their four daughters.

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