Fund raising under way for county 9/11 memorial

Fund raising under
way for county
9/11 memorial

Close to $50,000 has been raised in donations from individuals, local businesses and schools toward the $850,000 needed for the Monmouth County 9/11 Memorial.

Among the local businesses that have made contributions to the Monmouth County 9/11 Memorial Fund are Irwin Yacht Sales and Murphy Realty, both Red Bank; Osprey Partners Investment Management, Shrewsbury; Morris, Johnson & Associates Inc., Eatontown; Torcon Inc., Westfield; and Consumers Mortgage Corp., Middletown.

Almost $1,750 of the total raised has been donated by students and staff at Monmouth County schools, according to Jennifer Anderson, fund-raising consultant to the Monmouth County Sept. 11 Memorial Committee.

Schools include Robertsville Elementary School, Marlboro, which raised $320; Manasquan Elementary School; Our Lady of Perpetual Help School and Henry Hudson Regional High School, both Highlands; Asher Holmes Elementary School, Marlboro; Bradley Beach Elementary School; Roosevelt Elementary School, Roosevelt; and Coastal Learning Center in Point Pleasant.

The Monmouth County 9/11 Memorial, which will commemorate the nearly 150 county residents who perished in the attacks, will be located at Mount Mitchill Scenic Overlook, a Monmouth County park located in Atlantic Highlands. The 13-acre park overlooks Sandy Hook Bay and provides a view of lower Manhattan.

The county’s Board of Freeholders has provided funding for site work, and the memorial committee is responsible for raising the funds necessary to execute the design whose elements include a walkway with a chronology of the events of Sept. 11 carved into the paving stones and a central tableau upon which the names of victims will be carved.

Central to the memorial is a sculpture designed by local sculptor Franco Minervini, of an eagle soaring skyward and grasping an actual piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center site.

For more information about the memorial or to make a contribution, visit www.monmouthcounty911memorial.com or call the Friends of the Parks at (732) 975-9735.

— Gloria Stravelli