Tunnel to Towers triumphs in donations for fallen officers homes
After announcing that they would take over responsibility for the mortgages of fallen NYPD officers Rafael Ramos, a Sunset Park native, and Wenjian Liu of Bensonhurst, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation made good on its word and announced to the families of the officers—shot at point-blank range in their marked NYPD car on Saturday, December 20—that donations had exceeded expectation and that the organization had raised $860,000 to put toward their homes.
The organization opened the floor for donations on its website on Friday, December 26. According to foundation documents, “more than 10,000 donations were received via online, mail, and phone towards the purchase of the Liu and Ramos family homes,” in under two weeks.
Over 250 uniformed officers attended the announcement on Wednesday, January 7 at the Conrad New York Hotel, where the widows of the slain officers, Maritza Ramos and Pei Xia Chen, met for the first time and learned that the foundation had raised well over the amount anticipated and that any additional funds would go to the repair and renovation of their homes.