Illinois Nursing Home Residents Raise More Than $100,000 for the Service Employees International Union September 11^th Relief Fund

(CHICAGO) -- Thousands of hard-working staff and concerned residents from more than 90 Illinois nursing and rehabilitation facilities raised $100,000 to help the victims of the September 11^th terrorist attacks as part of the "Residents Reaching Out in Love" campaign, sponsored by the Illinois Council on Long Term Care, a professional nursing home association.

The funds raised from the Residents Reaching Out in Love campaign were donated to the Service Employees International Union September 11^th Relief Fund. This union lost dozens of "unsung heroes" working in support services at the World Trade Center -- janitors, window washers, maintenance staff and security staff. The Council's Board of Directors decided to donate to SEIU because 9,000 employees at Illinois nursing homes are members of this union -- making the contribution more personal for both givers and receivers.

The check was presented to the 1.5 million member international union in a special ceremony at the Renaissance at Hillside on Veterans Day, Monday, November 12^th. Residents and staff from three facilities -- Westmont Convalescent Center in Westmont, Peterson Park Health Care Center in Chicago, The Claremont Rehab and Living Center in Buffalo Grove -- represented the over 90 Council homes that participated in the campaign by describing the fundraising efforts at each of their facilities.

After words of encouragement and tribute from State Senator Ira Silverstein to the experience of the "greatest generation" now living in today's nursing homes, the president of SEIU Local #4 in Illinois, Ronald Walski, introduced National SEIU President Andrew Stern, who flew in from Washington DC to accept the largest donation received yet by the union's Victim Relief Fund.

Mr. Stern movingly described three union members who died: Roko Carnaj, a window washer who was on the 102^nd floor when the plane hit, had told his son previously that when he was doing his job washing windows on the upper floors of the World Trade Center, he felt that he could "reach out and touch the sky." Esmeraldo Sacedo was a security officer who was on his day off, but rushed back to the World Trade Center after the plane hit to help evacuate hundreds of other employees, "because that was my job." Kathy Nguyen, the nurse who contracted anthrax of still unknown origins, was also a member of SEIU.

Illinois nursing home residents sponsored several fundraising initiatives across the state to build needed financial support for the SEIU Relief Fund. Among these caring efforts:

The Illinois Council on Long Term Care matched dollar-for-dollar all monies contributed by residents, family members, staff and volunteers at member facilities.

This fundraising campaign coincides with many resident-initiated programs in the nursing homes providing emotional and spiritual supports in response to the events of September 11th. Recent initiatives include sponsoring community prayer vigils, hosting flag ceremonies with veterans groups, organizing community blood drives and creating memorial services for the victims and their families.

"It is our hope that our Residents Reaching Out in Love campaign will provide meaningful assistance to the union members and families devastated by the terrorist attacks," explains Martin J. Weiss, President of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Council on Long Term Care. "We applaud the thousands of Illinois nursing home residents who have worked so tirelessly to raise funds benefiting the victims of this national crisis."