 
America's Child, a program of The Twin Towers Orphan Fund, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public benefit organization, Fed. Tax ID# 57-1197371.
All donations are fully
tax-deductible.
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About America's Child ~ Founders
Honoring our nation's armed forces, America's Child provides educational assistance and physical and mental healthcare assistance for the children of our military heroes: the fallen men and women who proudly sacrificed their lives fighting terrorism and whose strength and courage has kept our nation safe.
 America's Child Founders
America's Child, as a program of the Twin Towers Orphan Fund, shares its founding:
On September 11, 2001, W. Knox Richardson and Michele Ritter watched in silence as the towers collapsed: one, then the other. The reporters were saying upwards of 50,000 people a day worked in the World Trade Center. Aloud, Richardson wondered how many people just lost their lives. Responding, Ritter asked, "I wonder how many children just lost their parents." The words hung heavily in the air; something had to be done.
Within hours of the first explosion, Richardson, a PR professional in California, had not only developed the idea for a charity to help the children but also a plan for implementation. Richardson recruited Dana Victoria Sophia, his PR counterpart in New York. Together, they began exchanging e-mails on a public relations Internet mailing list and within that one day had gathered enough support to build an instant grass roots national publicity campaign. Some 35 PR professionals around the nation agreed to dedicate the time and energy necessary to raise awareness of a new charitable trust fund for the surviving children of parents killed in the Twin Towers disaster, in the Pentagon and those on board the ill-fated airliners.
On September 12, 2001, Ritter, a non-profit information systems and technology professional, obtained the Twin Towers Orphan Fund domain, TTOF.ORG, developed its web presence and primary source of communication. Garden Pathways, Inc., a local charity, offered to be the Fund's official host charity and provide it with start-up administrative support, accounting services, banking, legal services and its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
On September 13, 2001, The Twin Towers Orphan Fund was announced. It's mission: to provide long-term higher educational assistance and physical and mental healthcare assistance to the children who lost parents in the national disasters of September 11, 2001.
Within days, TTOF received a groundswell of support from elected officials, civic leaders, public corporations, and the charitable community across the nation. Within weeks, the Twin Towers Orphan Fund was a national grass roots campaign supported by everyday men, women and children in thousands of cities around the nation. During its first seven months, more than $4 million dollars was raised to support the children of 9/11. During this same seven months, all expenses were borne from the pockets of the dedicated co-founders and by monies donated specifically for expenses. Beginning the 2nd quarter of 2002, TTOF implemented a 90 percent model where 10 percent of donations are used for ongoing program expansion, administrative overhead and awareness efforts. During the next two years, an additional $3 million was donated, bringing the total to $7 million.
During this same period of time, nearly 700 higher educational savings accounts had been established in the names of the children, an additional 51 children had received direct assistance for higher education expenses and 68 had received assistance for physical and mental healthcare expenses; this totaled nearly $3.5 million.
Over 1,000 children in 18 states and territories, including 30 babies born after 9/11/01, have registered with TTOF. An average of 40 children - per year - will begin their college education for the next 18 years. However, if 2003 is an accurate indication of future TTOF registrations, this number will increase by 15 percent each year.
In 2004, the Twin Towers Orphan Fund transitioned from a program of a charity into an independent nonprofit, public benefit charity; the national coalition of PR co-founders continue to provide a vital role as "watch-dog;" and still passionately involved - and at its helm - are Ritter and Richardson: Ritter is the fund's President and CEO and Richardson, continuing to volunteer his time, is its Chairman.
In 2008, America's Child was established for the sole purpose of providing college education and welfare assistance to every child whose military parent gave their life to protect us from the horrors they faced on a daily basis. We are committed to providing assistance to the surviving children of our military heroes who have already given their lives in patriotic service to their country fighting our nation's war against terrorism as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the Philippines, Operation Iraqi Freedom or future conflicts.
More than 4,700 military personnel have died fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom; nearly 75 percent of them were under the age of 30. Our young beneficiaries are their children.
In addition to the assistance America's Child provides, we also make available to the parent/guardian information on other funds and charities that may be of benefit to them, as well as referrals to service providers.
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 If you know of any surviving children of our military heroes who have given their lives in patriotic service to their country fighting our nation's war against terrorism,
please register with America's Child.
This will help identify America's Children and qualify those who are in most need of our help -- now and in the future.
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America's Child provides higher educational assistance, as well as
physical and mental health care assistance to the children who's military parent gave their life to protect us from the horrors they faced on a daiy basis.
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