News of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers sent shock waves through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), which had five employees in New York City's financial district that day auditing major corporations for Wisconsin. It was not until late in the afternoon, after news reports that the terror had spread to Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, that DOR learned its employees were safe.

Nevertheless, the 1,200 DOR employees felt the loss of their New York State Department of Tax and Finance colleagues who died in the attacks.

"They did not return to their families that night," says Barbara Roe, a member of the FPE/AFT-affiliated Wisconsin Professional Employees Council (WPEC), who works at the revenue department as internal communications director. "DOR staff felt that something needed to be done for the victims and their families."

DOR fundraising for the victims of the terrorist attacks quickly grew from a donation box at the department's Rimrock Road headquarters in Madison, where 850 of the department's employees are assigned, to a series of fundraisers sponsored throughout the building. In all, DOR employees donated more than $22,000, which has been distributed to a variety of Sept. 11 relief funds, including the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) World Trade Center Relief Fund.

Thirty-one of the New York State Department of Tax and Finance employees killed Sept. 11 were PEF members.

"The focus on helping the families of government workers, just like ourselves, has been energizing,"says Roe. "While management has been incredibly supportive throughout, the true impact of these past few weeks has come from the fact that it was a grassroots reaction to a tragedy. The whole department joined in to make these [fundraising] events a success."

Contributions to aid victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have poured into the AFT Recovery Fund as well. At press time, more than $120,000 had been donated to the fund, including $20,000 from staff fundraisers and personal contributions.