A major post 9-11 firefighter charity has announced it will cease operations after three and a half years of service to the national firefighting community, a run marked by some big successes as well as some big questions.
The charity has yet to publicly account for its final spending from July 2003, when it had $3.5 million, to January 2005 when it shut down with $1.9 million. The fate of the at least $1.6 million spent since 2003 remains unclear while the charity works to submit their final financial statements.
Firefighters National Trust, which was found at the web site firedonations.org, was organized in August 2001 in Gig Harbor, Washington. The fledgling organization was suddenly catapulted into the spotlight on September 11, 2001, when it surfaced as the only firefighter charity immediately ready to accept donations online.
In less than a year it received over $9.5 million in donations for the survivors of fallen firefighters. The charity gave New York City's fire union, the Uniformed Fire Fighters Association, $3,980,730 in December 2001 and an additional $394,317 in June 2002, to distribute through the New York Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund.
Firehouse.com first reported on FNT in 2003, as they were developing plans to distribute the remaining millions and to continue raising funds for long term programs. Now in 2005, as the charity wraps up, some questions still remain about how some of the donations have been utilized.
Despite FNT's efforts to earn the trust and support of the fire service, it received mixed reactions. The International Association of Fire Fighters and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation declined to form relationships with the charity.
"The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has seen a lot of programs that were out providing support or raising funds after 9/11 now shut down," said NFFF Executive Director Ron Siarnicki. "The NFFF will be there long term to support the FDNY and firefighting community."
FNT Executive Director Steve Careaga announced the charity's shut down in a February letter to his board of fire commissioners, and said the charity plans to transfer their remaining funds to their partner organization Life Matters, which operates mental health outreach programs.
"Our board of directors unanimously approved a grant of over $1.9 million dollars the balance of our 9-11 funds to Life Matters for grief counseling work with the FDNY victims of 9-11," the letter said.
Life Matters director Dr. Mike Lonski did not return Firehouse.com's calls for comment.
According to the Life Matters web site, their program for firefighters, called the Psychological Third Alarm, is recognized and endorsed by the Uniformed Firefighters Association, is underwritten by Firefighters National Trust, and "has assisted thousands of New York City firefighters and their families in processing the trauma of 9/11 and regaining emotional well-being."
The organization appears to have the support of the union, as they claim online, but union officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Life Matters provides an alternative to FDNY's internal Counseling Services Unit, which may require firefighters seeking help to take time off work. CSU Clinical Director Malachy Corrigan had no comment on the organization or their new grant.
According to Careaga's letter, FNT is shutting down because it has become increasingly difficult to raise funds for their national programs.
Their programs included "income bridging" to provide families of fallen firefighters with immediate, short-term financial assistance, grief counseling and a scholarship/grants program, to provide children or spouses with education funds.
Firehouse.com has been attempting to examine the charity's recent finances, but its most recent Form 990, which it is required to file with the Internal Revenue Service at the end of each fiscal year, has not been submitted for the fiscal year ending June 2004. The Washington Secretary of State's Charities Division said FNT did not have an extension granted and had been sent a reminder to file.
FNT's latest available data is through the fiscal year ending June 2003. The information lent itself to questions that Firefighters National Trust declined to answer last fall. Careaga said he did not trust Firehouse.com to be objective, due to a critical report in 2003, and due to the possibility of political motivations because of an established relationship with NFFF Executive Director Ron Siarnicki, who formerly shared office space with Firehouse.com.
Careaga said Firehouse.com should also investigate other firefighter charities including the NFFF. Otherwise, "It looks suspect and I think your credibility is severely challenged at that point," Careaga said.
Firehouse.com maintains that FNT's sudden wealth in 2001, while the new charity was still developing its mission, was sufficient reason to examine its spending. The NFFF has operated in a steady manner since it was created by Congress in 1992, and supports its programs through a grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, as well as through partnerships with the United States Fire Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Of particular concern was the status of FNT's income bridging program. Careaga said they were still doing income bridging in 2004, and that immediately after any lodd, a check was being sent to the fire department to be passed along to the firefighter's family.
When Firehouse.com randomly checked with one department that lost firefighters in 2002, for our earlier report in 2003, the department offered strong praise for FNT.
Coos Bay, Oregon Fire Chief Stan Gibson said that about two days after the tragedy on November 25, 2002 in which three firefighters were killed, the department received checks in the mail for each of the families, in the amount of $1,500 each. At the time, he told Firehouse.com, "I was very impressed with what they do and how they do it."
"At that time we were overwhelmed by a few things, including the generosity of the firefighting family," Gibson said. "I would consider these folks part of that."
Gibson was listed as a recipient in Careaga's February 2005 e-mail letter to his board of fire commissioners.
However, when Firehouse.com randomly asked six fire departments who lost firefighters in the line of duty in 2004 to comment on FNT, four of the departments confirmed that they did not receive any donations from FNT, and two others said they were unsure. Firehouse.com asked FNT whether these departments were mistaken, if their lodds did not qualify, or if there was another reason they did not receive donations. FNT did not respond to the question or provide, as requested, their written criteria for income bridging eligibility.
Those departments that confirmed last fall that they had not received donations from FNT were the Stowe Township VFD #2 in McKees Rocks, PA which lost firefighter Thomas Angelis on 6/23/04, the Show Low FD in Arizona which lost firefighter Gary Bishop on 6/19/04, the Red, White and Blue FD in Colorado which lost firefighter Barrie Niebergall on 3/16/04 and the Lexington, KY FD which lost firefighter Brenda Cowan on 2/13/04.
Careaga said he could not provide a list of recipients of income bridging or scholarship donations for the sake of the privacy of the recipients. However, he noted, "From the hundreds of cards and letters of the spouses we've received, they're pretty appreciative," he said. "I feel pretty proud of what we've done and it hasn't ben easy."
Firehouse.com also posed other questions to FNT last fall. At the time, Careaga declined to reply and asked Firehouse.com to hold any updates pending an upcoming announcement. Now that FNT's phone number and e-mail are disconnected, Careaga could not immediately be reached for comment. He did not reply to a cell phone message.
The primary question at this point, is what happened to the rest of the donations held by Firefighters National Trust as of June 2003. Their last available data shows they held $3,514,094 at that time, and Careaga's letter states that they held $1.9 million at the time they closed down. There is currently no Form 990 to publicly account for how the difference of approximately $1.5 million was spent, or whether any additional donations were raised and spent.
According to the Washington Secretary of State's office, FNT said they would file their 990 through June 2004 sometime in mid March and their final 990 sometime after that.
Although the full financial picture of Firefighters National Trust remains unclear, according to Careaga it has been a success.
"Over the past 3 1/2 years," he wrote, "Firefighters National Trust has been able to help over 2000 families we given out over $8 million dollars and we were able to maintain our operating expenses at less then 20 percent. All in all we think FNT has been a huge success."
In the last four years, the time FNT was operational, there have been approximately 700 families who lost firefighters in the line of duty, including those killed on 9-11.
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