We Care RVC Fund (2002 LGAA)

Village of Rockville Centre (Winner)
County: Nassau County
Population: 10,001 to 50,000
Village Hall: (516) 678-9300

The Village of Rockville Centre was hit especially hard by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Village identified at least 36 people who lost their lives that day who were current or former residents. There was a need and a desire to do something extraordinary in response to those sudden, brutal, and unprece¡dented losses.

Within one week of the tragedy, village government, under the leadership of the mayor's office and the Board of Trustees, created the 'We Care RVC Fund' within the existing Rockville Centre Community Fund for the exclusive benefit to the victim's families living in Rockville Centre. The volunteer committee anticipated the needs of the families, most with very young and school-age children, and created mechanisms that would provide assistance. $750,000 was raised in the first six months of the Fund's existence.

The committee prepared a 40-page handbook which included all of the available services and resources that would assist the families of victims. The Fund committee continues to meet regularly to discuss the needs of the families, to report on their on-going efforts, to collect and share information, and to distribute the money that keeps coming in for the families. It is the intention of the committee to continue working until the youngest child among the affected families has graduated from college.