Federal managers and employees helped raise enough money over the past two years to pay for the education of any child whose father or mother was killed or disabled in the Oklahoma city bombing or who were themselves injured in the blast.
The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund, a charity that helps federal employees and their families in need, raised $1.8 million of the $10.5 million Americans contributed to help the surviving children of the April 19, 1995 Murrah building bombing. Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating announced last week that the scholarship needs of the 197 eligible children had been met.
Susan Holliday, one of the six employees of the fund, said managers' commitment to the cause was an important part of the fundraising success.
"Management put out the word," Holliday said.
Holliday said managers also helped by understanding the needs of their employees who lost colleagues and friends in the bombing.
Steve Bauer, executive director for the fund, said the generosity of all those who contributed will give the children hope.
"The greatest tribute we can pay to those who suffered or died in the bombing is to care for their children; to nurture and educate their children as they would if they were able," Bauer said.
Scholarships made possible by contributions to the fund were awarded beginning in the summer of 1995 and will continue to be distributed through at least 2013, when the youngest of the eligible children will enter college. This year, 56 students received scholarships.
The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund administered its own Oklahoma City relief fund, as well as President Clinton's Oklahoma City Scholarship Fund and funds created by the Federal Highway Administration, the General Services Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Social Security Administration, all of which lost employees in the bombing.
In addition to scholarship aid, the fund helped pay for families' funeral expenses, transportation costs for family members to and from funerals, and medical and emotional treatment.
The fund has aided employees during other crises, including the plane crash that killed Ron Brown and 32 other Americans, flooding in the Midwest, and last year's government shutdown.
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