Also See: Photo Slide Show: A Weekend Of Reflection in New York
NEIL GRAVES
New York Post Online
Photo by Robert Miller/New York Post Online
Wives of slain firemen from Brooklyn's Engine Co. 230 - including Jennifer White (left), with daughter Taylor - receive a check for $789,165 yesterday from their Chicago counterparts.
Inside Coverage
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November 19, 2001 -- In one breathtaking day, firefighters and fire widows from the Windy City collected funds for their New York brethren - and when the pockets were emptied, they were three-quarters of a million dollars lighter.
About a dozen members of the Chicago Fire Department and its Golden Badge Society yesterday presented the days' proceeds - a check for $789,165.50 - to Engine Co. 230 in Brooklyn in a hefty show of support.
The Chicago firemen organized a "Fill the Boot Drive" on Sept. 19, said Mary Rose McNamee, a spokeswoman for the Golden Badge Society, and the results were staggering.
"The outpouring was phenomenal," noted McNamee, whose organization comprises widows who lost their husbands in the line of duty.
"We had traffic jams all over the city. Contributions came from everywhere. Even the homeless emptied their pockets."
The engine house, on the Williamsburg/Bedford-Stuyvesant border, lost six colleagues in the Twin Towers attack - 25 percent of their squad.
"It was an awesome thing they did," said Capt. Larry Blieka of the Chicago department, before growing philosophical: "You definitely have to start anew, but at the same time, remember the guys you lost."
The Chicagoans' check will be forwarded to the firefighters' Widows and Orphans Fund.
The afternoon became a commiseration session as firefighters from other nearby companies - Engines 209, 235 and 217, Ladder 102 and the 57th Battalion - brought their fire vehicles.
"It's not the money so much; what means more to me is the women who took their time to come here and spend a few hours with our widows," said Matt James, a trustee of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
"Look what's gone on since the World Trade Center crap - people seem so much friendlier. So much kinder. It's terrible that it took this tragedy, but people are treating each other as human beings. This brings a tear to your eye. It makes you feel proud."
Inside the firehouse, handwritten thank-you notes penned by kids from a nearby elementary school still plaster the corner Pepsi machine.
Jennifer White of Queens stood not far from a banner high on the wall, a gift from some Texas firefighters, that read: "Pain is temporary / Pride is forever." She lost her husband, Edward White, on Sept. 11.
"This was so nice," said White as she watched her 2-year-old, Taylor, play. "Complete strangers, from the goodness of their heart, came to help. This make you feel like you're not alone.
"It makes you understand why they call each other brothers."
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