A big-hearted charity established in memory of a 9/11 victim is paying off the mortgages of the two New York City police officers executed by a gun-wielding madman earlier this month.
"We know that in really stressful times such as this, one of the things people really are concerned about is home and food," John Hodge, operations director of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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The foundation, which Hodge created in memory of his cousin, a New York firefighter who died in the World Trade Center terror attacks, builds homes for catastrophically-injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
And when Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were cold-bloodedly murdered in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Hodge wanted to help their families, too.
"While Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo was visiting the Liu family … one of the concerns [was] were worried about paying their mortgage," Hodge said.
"The foundation said, let's do for them what we're about to do for these service members all over the country, which is to give them the keys to home and say, there's no debt, it's all yours."
Hodge said those who want to contribute to the foundation can call 1-844-BRAVEST or visit Tunnel2Towers.org.
"The money is coming in at a really great pace. We're now upwards of $300,000 since we announced on Friday," he said.
"And it's coming in not only from every state in the country so far as donated, but from countries around the world, too. So people are really following this and this has really touched their hearts."
And for Hodge, it helps him remember the supreme sacrifice made by his cousin some 13 years ago.
"This is really a story about a hero helping other heroes. Stephen Siller was a firefighter who on Sept. 11 was off duty, heading home to play golf with his brothers in Staten Island, N.Y.," Hodge told Steve Malzberg.
He heard the call on the scanner of his pickup truck about what was happening at the World Trade Center, turned around, goes back to Squad 1 in Brooklyn, and picks up his gear.
"He made it to the World Trade Center, but both he and his 11 other brother members, firefighters from Squad 1, all perished that day."