THE CHRONICLE-HERALD
Davene Jeffrey
01/14/2003

Swissair families plan to create scholarships; Victims' relatives think it would be a good way to remember the dead

A group of families of Swissair crash victims are trying to repay the province they feel gave them so much.

A scholarship fund, which organizers hope could reach $20,000 US (about $30,800 Cdn), is being established to help deserving Nova Scotia high school students pay for university.

"We owe them," said Miles Gerety, head of an international association of Swissair families.

On Sept. 2, 1998, 229 people died when Swissair Flight 111, en route to Geneva from New York, plunged into the ocean near Peggys Cove.

"It's four years out, and we'd like to do something, some little gesture," Mr. Gerety said in a recent interview from his Connecticut home.

Mr. Gerety lost his brother Pierce in the air disaster.

"The Canadians certainly were more generous than anybody else in any air crash that I know of," he said.

The scholarship will be administered by the Interfaith Council of Halifax, a group of clergy who were brought together through counselling Swissair families.

"There's no way we can decide who to help in Nova Scotia rationally, so we decided to sort of delegate it and do it jointly with the interfaith group," Mr. Gerety said.

The families' organization has given the interfaith group a cheque for $10,000 US, but hopes to set up permanent funding for the scholarships, Mr. Gerety said.

Interfaith group member John O'Donnell is involved in heading up the fund.

"It's not great timing," Mr. O'Donnell admitted Monday, explaining that most scholarships are being applied for now and will be awarded within the next few weeks.

But his organization hopes to get an information package out to schools before the end of the school year and to get money into the hands of students by fall.

The scholarships will be open to any Nova Scotia Grade 12 students who are in financial need and are committed to building bridges between races, religions and / or cultures.

At present, the group is hoping to award two or three scholarships of approximately $3,000 and $4,000 Cdn each. But the number handed out could double.

Mr. O'Donnell has recently been in touch with the family of Erich Burckhardt, who died in the crash.

His son Nicolas, who has received a settlement from Swissair, is interested in setting up a charitable foundation of at least $500,000 US and wants to match the family association's funds.

Mr. O'Donnell is eager to get the scholarship program underway. He admits his work over the past four years, which involved counselling the grief-stricken Swissair families and arranging memorial services, has been draining.

"But this is something I can muster some energy for."

CD thanks for bringing this to our attention.