WTC Miracles Foundation Warns Federal Aid to Victims' Families Won't Be Enough to Cover Long-Term Needs PR Newswire -- January 2, 2002 Should the Good Samaritan Have Just Dropped a Check on the Prostrate Body of the Wounded Traveler? NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/-- Massive federal aid to WTC victims' families sounds impressive, but won't be enough to cover all of their long-term needs, the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation warned today. It might also discourage private charity support over the long haul. "The compelling stories of victims' families read like novels about real people whose needs must be met over the next 15 years," said Mitchell Morrison, Founder and Chairman of WTC Miracles Foundation. "The federal government is supplying only 'Chapter One' in what for many could be sagas with unhappy endings." His foundation is working on establishing endowments to meet the needs of families with special circumstances, such as caring for children with long-term medical problems. He vowed to step up efforts to help families with "dire needs" through an Adopt-A-Family program, including providing funds for such medical emergencies as a four-year-old child who needs open-heart surgery, so special situations don't "fall through the cracks of a federal windfall." According to Morrison, the federal formula favors families that had greater income before 9/11. Those who lost a low-earning breadwinner will receive less than wealthier families. "It's more akin to using a claimant's earnings as the basis for a settlement to avoid litigation against airlines." "Yet shouldn't we respond more from a charitable standpoint? Charity involves more than writing a lottery-sized check, especially as funds might not be managed well enough to raise a family." Morrison said WTC Miracles will continue its controversial program of identifying victims' families and their needs on its website: www.wtcmf.org He called the notion ridiculous that it's a higher form of giving when you don't know the recipients because it spares them that shame. "Would it be better if volunteers at a homeless shelter placed blinders over their eyes so they won't see their faces when serving them a meal? "Should the Good Samaritan have just dropped a check on the wounded traveler and gone on his merry way without looking down to see how badly the poor guy was hurt? "We believe in connecting givers and receivers of charity so it's not just an impersonal act of writing a check to an unknown recipient." CONTACT: Thomas J. Madden of TransMedia Group, +1-561-750-9800, ext. 11, or TMadden@transmediagroup.com