Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

September 11th Fund Comes Under Scrutiny

Aired December 05, 2001 - 06:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well the American Red Cross is not the only charity that's come under fire for its handling of 9-11 relief efforts. Critics are also blasting organizers of the September 11th Fund. As CNN's Peter Viles reports some of the complaints stem from the way the money is being spent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every dollar you give will go directly to the victims and their families ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you saw the ads and gave money to the September 11th Fund, did you know the fund would eventually use some of the money it raised as a loan to a philharmonic symphony miles from ground zero?

(MUSIC)

VILES: As a loan to a modern dance company; another to an aids prevention group; yet another to an arts organization that features this illustration of a dominatrix on its Web site. The September 11th Fund has raised $337 million and does not give the money away directly. Instead it gives to other charities, which distribute the money in keeping with this blanket commitment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA GOTBAUM, SEPTEMBER 11TH FUND: One hundred percent of the funds that have been donated to the September 11th Fund will go to the victims of that disaster, their families and their communities - 100 percent point zero, zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VILES: It turns out the fund has a broad definition of those communities and says in the case of the non profits, it is doing exactly what some large donors asked it to do.

GOTBAUM: Institutions like the Ford Foundation, which gave us $5 million, the Mott Foundation, which gave us more than $1 million, et cetera. They say we want you to pay attention to non profit institutions - those institutions that are essential in the fabric of the community.

VILES: So money from the fund has gone to the Brooklyn philharmonic, which received a loan of $200,000 after government aid to the philharmonic was delayed. A $100,000 loan to Mothers Voices, an AIDS prevention group that canceled a fund-raiser after the attacks. A loan of $33,000 to the Institute for the Development of Earth Awareness; a $25,000 loan to a modern dance group, Jennifer Muller; and a $6,000 grant for the arts group Three Legged Dog, which produced the dominatrix you saw earlier.

Charity watcher Daniel Borochoff says the grants are stretching the definition of victim.

DANIEL BOROCHOFF: We've got non-profits all over this country that have had to cancel fund raising events. So, you know, if you're going to give money to the - a loan to the Brooklyn Philharmonic, you might as well give one to the Los Angeles Philharmonic also, and so, they really need to stay in there closer to lower Manhattan and also look at some of the indirect victims of this crisis.

VILES: Another criticism of the fund, it appears to be in no rush to give away the $337 million it has raised. To date it has given away 51 million or 15 percent of what it raised.

(on camera): The fund says it has no timetable for giving away the rest of the money. It says it will continue to evaluate requests and will disperse the money based on what it sees as the needs of the victims and their communities.

Peter Viles, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com