W000347
Friday, November 09, 2001 6:36 AM
Re: compensation
As the former Crime Victims Assistance Coordinator , I have had the unfortunate opprtunity of dealing with victims compensation.
This situation has hit me personally. My young cousin lost her young husband on 9-11. The maze she has had to travel with these charities is simply put, cruel. The solution is so simple. Everything that was collected after 9-11was ear marked for the victims of this tradgey--only--.The pain and suffering is equal among the surviviors, so must be the compensation. All these carities need do is simply divide the # of Victims into the amounts collected. No data base needed a copy of the New York Times's List of names of victims and a calculator. The Red Cross and the United Way must be told this is a New Day, not to continue business as usual. All charities must follow the same simple division. The good people who sent in their money did not pick and choose. They have no right to peanialize the victim who lived on a budget and whose bills add up to $1,500 per mo and dole out accordingly. There are victims whose bills may be $5,000 or $15,000, the only fairness will be to divide equally. If $7,000 was colleced and there are 7,000 victims each gets $1.00. The way things are being handled will later cause striff among the suffering. The charities will be the cause of more grief within the victim community. It is not the job of the charities to pick and choose (no matter what method the apply it will be the wrong method) Equal is the only fair way to both the victims and the donorw. These charities should not concern themselves with the finances of the victims or what insurance is paying out to them. It is not their job.
Individual Comment