Julia and the entire Collins family would like to say Thank You for your thoughtfulness and generous donations. Without your help, the Thomas J. Collins Memorial Fund would not have been possible. The donations will be used to support the following organizations: The Cleft Palate Foundation of New York, Send-A-Kid Fishing Program, and Build a Reef Foundation. This Web site has been created to keep you informed about disbursements from the Memorial Fund, so please logon periodically for further updates.

Thomas J. Collins Memorial Reef Project:

It was a calm and sunny morning on October 3rd, as the lines were slipped loose that secured the "Mary N." to the docks of the old Bluepoints Company in West Sayville. This practice was commonplace for so many years before, but today the "Mary N" was off on a one way journey compared to her typical daily trips to Great South Bay and back. Today she was being towed to her final resting place on the sea bottom that she had worked on for so many years. The one way voyage started at 9:20 a.m. taking the boat past the Fire Island Lighthouse, under the single Captree Bridge span and out the Fire Island Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean.

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The National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction:

The National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with facial deformities. Addressing the suffering of the more than 220,000 children born each year with birth defects of the head and face and the thousands more with acquired disfigurements, the NFFR lends its support to the mulidisciplinary craniofacial team at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at NYU Medical Center. This outstanding assembly of world-renowned surgeons, mental health professionals, research specialists and staff, give their time and expertise, using the latest reconstructive techniques, to provide treatment to more than 1500 patients per year, regardless of a family's financial resources. You can find out more about the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction, and some of the children it has helped, at its website: http://nffr.org.

Two Long Island Organizations:

A portion of the proceeds from the Thomas J. Collins Memorial Fund will be used to sponsor two programs that involve the water and boating, both of which meant a great deal to Tom. They are "Send-A-Kid Fishing"and "Build a Reef Program." Both programs are run by "The Fisherman" magazine.

"Send-A-Kid Fishing" is a program that gives children who normally would not be able to go out and fish the opportunity to go on local charter boats and learn how to fish.

"Build a Reef Program" is a program that helps the local environment and the shores around Long Island produce artificial reefs. Contributions to this program help bring old ships and barges to Long Island to be sunk off its North and South shores to provide fresh habitat for sea life.

Memorial Fund UPDATE March 10, 2002

Tom's sister Colleen Campbell recently received this letter from the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction, thanking us for the first donation made from our Memorial Fund.

Dear Colleen: On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Institute and the NFFR, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to you, your family and your loyal friends for considering the plight of children born with Cleft Lip and Palate when determining the use of the donations in honor of your brother. We will be honored to inscribe a plaque on the Major Donor wall in the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery's Waiting Room to read as follows:

"In Honor of Thomas Joseph Collins"

Your generous donation will specifically serve children whose families cannot afford the cost of reconstructive treatment and are experiencing the same problems as your son Sean. We are proud of the efforts of Dr. Grayson and Dr. Cutting and their team and are confident that the children you will help will have the same positive results as your son.

We first commemorated the Donor Wall in June 2001 and will add new donors to the Wall in June 2002. At that time, we will invite you and your family to join the NFFR and our Craniofacial Team in honoring those who have so generously given their commitment to the Institute and the children whose lives it improves.

I look forward to sending you a report on the children this gift will help us to treat. These children will be able to look to more inclusive and fulfilling lives, thanks to your thoughtfulness and open hearts.

Sincerely,

Whitney Burnett
Executive Director

(We have already received a photo of the first child that benefited from The Thomas Joseph Collins Foundation.)

Underprivileged children receive donation for lacrosse equipment:

In Tommy's memory, Phoenix Investment Partners, Ltd has made a contribution to the US Lacrosse Youth Grant Program. The endowment will award annual grants of equipment to youth lacrosse programs with demonstrated financial need in developing lacrosse areas throughout Long Island. Thank you to Matt Hamel, brother-in-law of Tommy and Phoenix Investment Partners for their generosity.

Money raised this year from the 2003 Tailgate Party will be donated to the following two organizations....

Freedom Alliance and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund - in memory of Tommy Collins and Tim Byrne.
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund: www.intrepidmuseum.org

The families of America's fallen heroes need your help. Since September 11, 2001, more than 500 American and Allied soldiers have died in military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. More than half of these brave men and women have left behind a spouse or children. These families must now face their future without a husband or wife or father or mother. In addition to their grief, many of them must also address the questions of finding work, where to live, how to raise their children, how to provide for their education, and even how to get food on the table. The Armed Forces provide some benefits, including SGLI life insurance, a $6,000 death benefit, continued payment of a portion of salary, assistance with burial costs, health care, continued military base housing for up to six months, and other benefits. But very often the financial needs these families face demand immediate help. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund exists to meet this need.

The Fund provides unrestricted gifts of $10,000 to families of military personnel who have given their lives in the current operations in defense of our country. This financial support is intended to help these families through any immediate or long-term financial difficulties they may face. This gift is made quietly and without fanfare, to protect the privacy of the families. Our goal is to support them in their time of need, and to ensure that they know that our nation appreciates the sacrifice they have made for us.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is supported entirely by donations. 100% of contributions from the public for this effort go to support military families; no administrative costs are deducted. The Fund is a program of the Intrepid Foundation, which absorbs all administrative costs.

Since 2000 the Fund has helped hundreds of military families. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund contribution is given without restriction, available for any needs the family may have. This gift has helped these families in many ways: providing a sufficient down payment for a house, flying parents to the funeral of their fallen child, providing schooling for children, and even more immediate needs such as buying food and other necessities. Some families have put the funds in a trust for their children's education. Others have used them to establish support groups for families who are facing similar losses. One widow, who lost her husband in Afghanistan, wrote to us saying "It is a great honor to our family for the members of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund to have helped with our financial needs during our darkest hour. It is incredibly meaningful to have fellow Americans, who do not know us personally, contribute to the future of our family in such a significant way."

The Fund is currently contributing to the spouses and children of U.S. and British military personnel killed in action, as defined by the casualty offices of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, and the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom, in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and the spouses and children of U.S. military personnel killed in action in Afghanistan.

Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund: www.freedomalliance.org

The Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund honors the bravery and dedication exhibited by Americans in our armed forces who have sacrificed life and limb by providing educational scholarships to their children.

We all work hard during our lives to provide our children with a better life and the best education. The soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who serve our nation in uniform - risking life and limb - are no different. They want for their children what every parent wants: the opportunity to receive a quality education.

But if a parent is killed or permanently disabled while serving our country in the military, paying for college can be difficult. These young Americans left behind not only have to endure the hardship of losing a parent, but they also may not be able to fulfill their parent's wish of graduating because the means are unavailable.

As Americans, we owe it to those military personnel who are killed or permanently disabled while defending our nation to care and provide for their families, just as they have protected ours.

But as hard as it was to lose my friends in combat, it was even harder to bear the news to their families back home. There are few things more difficult than having to tell a young wife about the loss of her husband and then watch as she explains to their children that daddy will never come home.

The only thing that makes this terrible assignment bearable, is knowing that the good people of this nation won't let them grieve alone. Through the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, we not only help these kids pay for college, but we also let them know that the sacrifices their parents made will never be forgotten by their fellow Americans.