Fans Donate $7,500 for Fund

The money raised Saturday will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Lumina Foundation for Education -- an Indianapolis-based group that works to improve access to higher education.

As a result, about $15,000 in higher education scholarships will go to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which is designed to aid children who lost parents in the Sept. 11 attacks.

The fund was established Sept. 17 as a joint effort between the Minneapolis-based Citizens Scholarship Foundation of America and the Lumina Foundation.

UNC is the first university to raise money for the endowment, but organizers expect others to follow suit.

Saturday's fund drive is one product of Chancellor James Moeser's Disaster Response Task Force, which first met Sept. 17.

The task force quickly organized volunteers to man about 30 posts around the stadium for Saturday's matchup, hoping to catch the eye of the more than 53,000 fans in attendance.

"Our goal was to get the people who haven't yet donated money and still wished to," said Maneesha Agarwal, a task force member and Campus Y's special projects coordinator for the terrorist attacks.

Although the drive was publicized in a press release Thursday, most donors said they found out about the drive from volunteers, who donned T-shirts displaying red, white and blue Tar Heels.

"They caught my eye," said Bryant Ray, a high school senior from Clemmons. Ray said he also has given to drives at his school and church.

Many said they were inclined to give because they felt helpless being so far from "ground zero."

First-year graduate student Joy Buchanan gave money on her way into the game. "I'm from New York City, and since I couldn't be there to help, I have to do something," Buchanan said.

Some even donated extra tickets for volunteers to sell, with the proceeds going toward the drive.

Several fans expressed interest in buying the volunteer T-shirts, which were designed by junior Christina Perry.

Agarwal said the task force might offer the shirts at another fund-raising event.

All of the money raised Saturday will go to the scholarship fund. The Lumina Foundation has pledged $2 million outright for the fund and an additional $1 million through matching-fund initiatives similar to UNC's drive. The Citizens Scholarship Foundation is managing the funds. "We are being very aggressive in our fund-raising," said Carol Van Dyke, a foundation representative.

Van Dyke stressed that this is a long-term effort and that many of the children who will benefit from the fund aren't even born yet.

Those who were unable to give at Saturday's game can donate by calling 1-877-862-0136 or accessing the fund's Web site at http://www.familiesoffreedom.org.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.