Families of 11 victims of Sept. 11 attacks will split money raised last Sunday
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
Some sat outside in the raw, damp air, answering the donated Voicestream cellular phones and recording pledge amounts.
Others set up a table inside the Old Bridge High School east campus cafeteria and sold commemorative T-shirts, also donated by a local business.
Still others lifted their voices in song. Then there were those who cooked and cleaned up after the masses who came and gave generously of their time, talents and money.
By the time the clock struck 6 p.m. on Sunday, "The Township with a Heart" — as road signs welcoming motorists to Old Bridge proclaim — had raised $66,059 for the families of 11 residents killed or missing as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
To top that off, even after the lights in the school’s television studio went dark and the cleanup began, donations continued to pour in via the telephone lines and walk-ins.
And proving those road signs correct again, this "volunteer community" responded en masse to the "One Family — Thousands of Hearts" telethon, which was jointly sponsored by the township and the Board of Education. The event was held at the east campus on Sunday and televised from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on cable channels 70 and 71, courtesy of Comcast Cablevision.
According to Diane Amabile, mayoral assistant, more than 200 residents volunteered to perform jobs — from working telephones and recording donations, to selling T-shirts and pins, to cooking and serving food and cleaning up. In addition, church choirs, a folk group and other local musicians, including the soft rock group, Zanzibar, and the dance band, Swingtones, provided on-air entertainment free of charge.
"There was a tremendous amount of community support. People were walking in off the street to volunteer," Amabile said Monday. As she spoke, township employees continued to turn in checks from area residents and businesses.
"The checks are still coming in," Amabile remarked in awe.
Most of the money, Amabile said, was raised via the phone banks, where volunteers dressed warmly and sat under a tent donated by the Police Department. Cellphone reception difficulties prevented the volunteers from answering calls inside the school building, so the phone banks were placed outside. Amabile, however, praised the volunteers for their perseverance and tenacity in spite of adverse weather.
More than $20,000 was raised in the telethon’s last two hours from phone pledges or walk-ins to the high school, Amabile said. Mayor Barbara Cannon confirmed that the latter part of the day brought the greatest number of pledges.
"Later in the day we did tremendously well. Between 4:30 and 7:30 (p.m.), a lot more calls came in," Cannon said.
"People were just walking in (to the telethon) and bringing in checks for $500," Amabile said.
Ron Mazzola, owner of Prestige Imaging, a local designer of T-shirts and other novelties, not only donated 150 specially designed T-shirts for the event, but served as one of the telethon’s five emcees as well. The T-shirts, reading "Old Bridge Cares" in bold letters over a picture of the American flag and the date "9-11-01," sold for $10 each. By 11 a.m., the T-shirts sold out.
"I guess it just hit home," Mazzola said of the T-shirt’s design. He added that after selling out, he took an additional 150 orders for the shirts. Mazzola also expects to deliver about 300 of the T-shirts for sale at Old Bridge Day on Saturday.
Mazzola, who remained on the air for the telethon’s duration, shared hosting duties with fellow residents Gene McLoughlin of Channel 70, Dr. Kenneth Alspach, Lance Hilfman of the township’s Cultural Arts Committee and Dan Drobnis, a high school senior.
"I’m just doing my part," Mazzola said.
Hilfman, who is involved with theatrical groups and sports leagues within the township, expressed gratitude for having had the opportunity to work with the other emcees.
"For nine hours, this was the best team I ever worked on, including sports and theater (groups)," he said.
Behind the cameras, high school students under the guidance of television production teacher Walt Reed captured the telethon’s varied musical performances, speeches by dignitaries, check presentations and some light-hearted moments all broadcast live courtesy of Comcast Cablevision.
In one such lighter moment, Mazzola introduced Lions Club member Joe Pagnato as "a local celebrity." Known within the township as "Joe Pagnato with 11 kids," Pagnato presented Mazzola with a personal check for $100 and with a Lions Club check for $500.
Choirs and musical groups from St. Ambrose, St. Bernadette’s, Most Holy Redeemer and St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic churches performed hymns. In a more secular vein, Zanzibar performed familiar soft-rock oldies and a set of Bruce Springsteen covers.
Speakers included Cannon, state Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr., and state Assemblymen Joseph Azzolina and Sam Thompson.
Receiving a warm welcome from the audience, members of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam presented a check for $1,000 and offered a prayer for peace. Imtiaz Chaudhary, president of the South Street-based mosque, expressed the group’s shock and dismay over the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and reiterated that the Muslim religion vehemently opposes such acts of violence against mankind.
Another significant donation came from the Moose Lodge who appeared on stage with its mascot and pledged $2,000 in proceeds from a coin toss conducted in front of their building on Englishtown Road the previous day.
At 2 p.m., several representatives of the high school’s peer leadership program presented Mazzola with a monetary donation collected from their membership. At 4:30 p.m., three of the group’s members returned on stage, having collected an additional $250 from merchants along Route 516, and presented the cash to Mazzola.
"They just felt that they wanted to do more," Mazzola said.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the Raritan Bay Cougars Youth Football League, coached by resident John Barrett, presented a check for $1,000, which had been collected through 50-50 drawings at football games played earlier that day. That donation raised the total collected to more than $50,000 Amabile said. As his 6-year-old son, Ryan, handed the check to Mazzola and Alspach, Barrett said that, due to the rainy weather, game attendance, and consequently, 50-50 contributions had been lower than expected. Hearing of the Cougars’ disappointment over collecting only $500, one parent of a player in the Midget division, Cheryl Lambert, matched that contribution, bringing the league’s total donation to $1,000, Barrett recalled.
In true Jerry Lewis style, as the telethon’s final hours ticked away, the emcees plugged away for viewers to call in with pledges. After hitting the $50,000 mark, the emcees made emotional pleas for monetary help in reaching $55,000.
"We were driving for $55,000 so that each of the 11 families would get $5,000 each," Hilfman said.
The phones started ringing. The $55,000 mark was reached. Then suddenly, Hilfman said, shortly after 6 p.m., the pledge counters announced that the telethon had raised more than $66,000.
"Within 45 minutes, we went from $55,000 to $66,000," Hilfman said.
"It was amazing. People must have been at home clicking channels, seeing us on TV and then picking up the phone," Alspach said.
Throughout the day, high school students typed up donor names and placed them on two large bulletin boards. Joining them was resident Chuck Phillips, who typed every donor’s name onto an enormous list presented at the end of the event.
Hilfman credited Amabile for organizing the event with only 10 days’ notice.
"Diane took the ball and ran with it. She did a fantastic job getting all the volunteers together," he said.
"It’s indescribable how it all came together," Cannon said. "The kids were great. Everyone helped. It’s phenomenal. It’s Old Bridge at its best. We always say we’re the township with a heart. This proves it."