The power of family

Bryce Alderton

CORONA DEL MAR -- It’s not too bad a fund-raiser when $3,210 comes in

-- especially when the event becomes reality less than a month after it’s

conceived.

That’s what happened when about 100 walkers took the streets of Corona

del Mar Sunday morning.

The money will go directly to the Sept. 11 Fund to help the victims of

the terrorist attacks in New York City and on the East Coast.

Six Newport Beach and Corona del Mar mothers whose children often play

together organized the Family Walk shortly after the terrorist attacks to

allow friends and family to come together in support of relief efforts.

The grass-roots, word-of-mouth campaign also consisted of creating

flyers and putting them in mailboxes.

“We wanted to feel like we were a part of something, not so removed

from it, and felt this would be the best way to do it,” said Carrie

Williams, one of the walk’s organizers.

Shira Granoff, 2, sat in a stroller being pushed by her mother,

Barbara, holding a bag of Cheez-It crackers in one hand and an envelope

with a donation inside in the other, ready to place it in the post

office’s mailbox.

“A bunch of us moms were talking to try and make sense of [the

terrorist attacks],” Granoff said. “We felt the need to do something not

out of anger, but out of empathy for the families who knew people that

would never come home again.”

Walk organizer Lauren Hurwitz grew up on Long Island, N.Y., and knew

about 20 people that were working inside the World Trade Center the

morning of Sept. 11.

“We’re trying to make a difference,” Hurwitz said as she walked up to

a spot called “Inspirational Point” that overlooks the serene blue waters

of the Pacific Ocean.

The Sept. 11 Fund was created by the United Way and the New York

Community Trust to provide immediate support to those affected by the

attacks with the help of emergency relief agencies such as the American

Red Cross and other nonprofit agencies.