NEVER TOO YOUNG — The children of PEF member Charles DeSiervo and their friends sell flags they made to raise funds for the PEF World Trade Center Relief Fund. They raised $1,000 from PEF Division 245 members and their co-workers. Financial assistance pours in from many sources PEF fund for WTC victims growing By SHERRY HALBROOK The PEF World Trade Center Relief Fund is steadily growing, as contributions pour in from as far away as Alaska. So far, the fund stands at more than $80,500 and donations are still coming in. PEF and many of its divisions have contributed, PEF members have sent personal contributions and have held fundraisers, and the union‘s staff have contributed too. Members’ children have raised funds for the World Trade Center victims. The children of PEF member Charles DeSiervo and two of their friends raised $1,600 for the families of firefighters lost in the tragedy, and then raised another $1,000 for the PEF WTC Relief Fund. “Like so many other New Yorkers wanting to help, my sister, Melissa DeSiervo, 12, and her friends Diane and Bridget Davidson, ages 9 and 12, had an idea to make some flags, try to sell them and collect donations for the New York City Firefighters’ Fund,” says Luke DeSiervo. They handed out hundreds of flags in just two days at a Long Island Railroad station, collecting the initial $1,600. “On another day off from school, we set up a table in the lobby of my Dad’s office building at 34 Hudson Street in New York City,” where they again handed out hundreds of flags and collected the $1,000 for the PEF fund, according to Luke DeSiervo. “We hope the money helps the families and lets them know how much the people of New York care about them and share in their loss,” Luke says. Arthur Foeste of the Wisconsin Professional Employees Council — a local of the American Federation of Teachers, expressed similar feelings about the thousands of dollars raised by his members to aid the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Foeste reports that $1,000 of the contributions from Wisconsin will be sent to the PEF WTC Relief Fund. “We feel a special kinship with your members at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance,” says Foeste, a tax auditor and head of the WPEC unit at the Wisconsin State Revenue Department. Greater need, greater share Meanwhile, PEF’s WTC Committee has been trying to develop a fair way to distribute the proceeds of the fund. “We’ve come up with a plan to distribute the donations to the surviving family members of PEF members who died and to our members with serious injuries,” says PEF Vice President Joe Fox, who co-chairs the committee with PEF Vice President Pat Baker. “We thought a point system based on need would be the best methodology,” Fox says. “Points would be assigned for certain circumstances, such as being a spouse or dependent of a member who died at the World Trade Center, or being a survivor with serious long-term injuries.” Each family’s total points would be divided by the total points of all the families to determine their share of the fund. For a copy of the fund’s disbursement formula, call 1-800-342-4306, ext. 261, or visit the PEF Website online at www.pef.org. Union insurance will help Meanwhile Baker, other PEF leaders and staff continue to work closely with the families to help them meet their day-to-day needs and get answers to their questions. Starting with the $5,000 checks which the union distributed to the families a few days after the tragedy, and which were paid with funds from PEF’s international affiliates — the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union — the union has been helping victims and their families apply for and receive financial benefits from many sources. These include: the $50,000 benefit for members killed on the job, which is provided through Article 11 of the PS&T contract; a $15,000 accidental death benefit through coverage the PEF Membership Benefits Program provides free to all PEF members; and a $10,000 benefit under PEF MBP’s ATAC insurance, also free to all PEF members, which covers deaths and injuries as a result of assault while on the job. The Communicator Home Page