Despite trying economic climate, accounting firms donate $4 million to 9/11 Memorial

Despite the slumped economy, four leading accounting firms have donated a total of $4 million to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers each pledged $1 million to help build and sustain the 9/11 Memorial.

These four accounting industry leaders join more than 170,000 individual contributors from all 50 states and 35 countries. The memorial will open in 2011 on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The museum is scheduled to open in 2012. Both are under construction at the World Trade Center site formerly known as ground zero.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who serves as 9/11 Memorial chairman, said: “These gifts are helping to generate the momentum we need to ensure that the Memorial opens next year. The firms have set a tremendous example of corporate citizenship even during a trying economic climate. With the tenth anniversary of the attacks coming up next year, now is the time when everyone should get involved in ensuring the memory of 9/11 is not forgotten.”

The 9/11 Memorial will honor and remember the nearly 3,000 innocent victims of the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 attacks.

“When we open the Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we hope as many individuals, corporations, and industries as possible will be able to say they were a part of building the nation’s memorial to that terrible tragedy," 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said. "We are enormously grateful to our Board Member Sam DiPiazza, Global CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers International, for working with his industry colleagues to make these gifts possible. ”

Continued fundraising is needed for programming in the 9/11 Memorial Museum and providing a financial base for long-term operational needs. Find out how you can support the memorial and museum.

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the 9/11 Memorial