Save Our Community was founded in the movement to resist Wal-Mart's development in Rosemead, California. Now, it has become a general site for news, information, gossip, talk, and blogging about Rosemead. We also have stories about South San Gabriel, San Gabriel, Montebello, and occasionally about Pico Rivera, El Monte, South El Monte, Alhambra, Temple City, and other nearby communities. Your host is Todd. If you want a blog just sign up, get approved, and start writing. Good posts will be moved onto the home page.
memorial
I believe the total cost for the memorial is around $60,000. Looking at the number of runners and the entry fees, I'd guess it grossed somewhere in the neighborhood of $8000 or so, maybe a bit more. Nowhere near enough to pay for it, but a respectable dent, nonetheless. And since part of the goal was to continue to boost awareness that results in additional donations, I think they did okay.
(There were a fair amount of sponsorships and donated services, so that helped reduce overhead for putting on the event, and maybe netted it a little extra money.)
Overall the turnout - about 300 - 400 runners - was pretty good for a first-time event like this. And a lot of people really liked it, so I think we just got a new city event. The question will be where to put it, since there was a unique purpose behind having it on 9/11, and it's probably not the day you want to leave it on. Personally, I'd go for the Saturday before Labor Day. It keeps it right around the same time of year, so you have a certain amount of continuity, keeps it between other city events, and (I think) away from the schedules of other regional runs. We'll see.
(As for the run itself, we had pretty good city participation. Steven Ly did the 10K, finishing it with a pretty nasty ankle sprain, while Maggie and Polly did the 1-mile walk/run. I walked the 5K, since I am not supposed to be running. Sandra Armenta, new traffic commissioner Joseph Wong and (I think) City Manager Jeff Allred also participated, though I'm not sure which one they did.)
At the risk of offending people
Article in the SGV Tribune today about this. Since the writer is listed as a "correspondent," I think that means it was freelance work.
Yes, given the $60,000 cost, I guess the entry fees didn't pay for more than a small fraction of the cost. The rest may come in from donations, but even donations aren't free. There's an opportunity cost involved, which means donations made to build this memorial directly translates to a reduction in money that could/would have been donated to support after school programs or meet other city needs.
I am all for memorializing 9/11, particularly at the Ground Zero locations in Washington, Pennsylvania and New York. However, I'm not sure what message we send the terrorists when we aim to build memorials all over the country. I fear that the more we rend our garments over the tragedy, the more the terrorists gloat about how they brought down the WTC Towers and how a handful of martyrs brought mighty, Satanic America down to her knees.
Just to prevent any possible misunderstanding, I'm not saying America is Satanic--I'm saying the terrorists think we're Satanic. They think we don't have the stomach for their brand of Jihad, and they think that a handful of dedicated Jihadists can stop us in our tracks because we're not willing to make the sort of sacrifices that they are willing to make. And I fear that every time they see America come to a standstill to shed tears over the losses of 9/11, they feel a little more smug and a little more confident that we are too soft to stand up to their brand of warfare.