In
New York City, Volunteer Ministers from throughout the U.S. and as far away as Hungary provided effective help at a time when it was most needed, as the entire world witnessed. Within hours of the World Trade Center collapse, Volunteer Ministers were on the scene, working around the clock to provide food, clothing, gear and other necessities to rescue crews. They gave assists to exhausted police and fire fighters overcome with stress, fatigue and shock, and provided help and succour to those people whose friends and family were lost in the tragedy.
While rescue and recovery efforts continued for weeks on end, the Volunteer Ministers never faltered in their around-the-clock assistance. In fact, as order was re-established in the surrounding areas, and the disaster zone cordoned off, the Volunteer Minister team was one of only three relief groups allowed to enter the site.
In fact, a New York Times news service account of Ground Zero activity reported, "When many volunteers were asked to clear out over the weekend, the Scientologists were allowed to stay, working alongside groups like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army."
Later, speaking on behalf of the thousands who comprised the Ground Zero relief corps, Police Chief Joseph Esposito, who has been with the New York Police Department for 35 years and the Chief of the Department since August 2000, singled out the Volunteer Ministers for their assistance, praising their vital contribution to the World Trade Center relief effort:
"The organisation, the caring, and the dedication of your Volunteer Ministers were exceptional, and very much appreciated, and will long be remembered by those who received their help... I cannot thank the Volunteer Ministers enough."
The results of their care at Ground Zero are evident today in the following words of gratitude — from both those who survived the devastation and those who worked in its wake.
“We get a lot of credit,“ said one New York police officer. “But I think a lot of the credit has to go to the people on the outskirts, such as the Scientology volunteers minister that provided us with comfort while we were down there, at a time when we needed it — probably more than most people understand or realise.”
“What I witnessed with the Scientology ministers I have never witnessed with any of the other organisations," said a Manhattan emergency medical technician. "Even the fire department in the beginning — the ambulance personnel — were not available. Who was available from the beginning were the Scientology ministers.”
“Your continued support and assistance is invaluable," wrote the co-executive director of the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, established for the families of the more than 700 company employees who lost their lives at the World Trade Center. "Every person, without exception, who has passed through these doors from the Church of Scientology has been extraordinary. Words of thanks are inadequate and escape me.”
