European 'Small Change' adds up for big NY cause

Inspired to do something uniquely European to assist the families of victims of the World Trade Center attack, the European Union, under the (then) Belgian EU presidency, came up with the Euro Currency for New York (ECNY) campaign, whereby people in the New York area with leftover change denominated in the 12 outgoing euro-zone currencies could donate it to the City of New York's Twin Towers Fund.

Since it is almost impossible to exchange foreign coins in US - they often end up just gathering dust - and as a way to illustrate the historic, unprecedented euro changeover here in the US, ECNY was viewed as a "win-win" proposition.

Joined as co-sponsor by the Bank of New York and Travelex (the foreign exchange specialists), who took on the crucial "heavy lifting" in this endeavor (i.e. the collection, sorting, counting and transporting of the myriad denominations of coins and small notes), the EU, represented by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel and EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, officially launched ECNY on November 14, 2001. The campaign ran from late November through February 2002, loosely tracking the January 1 - February 28, 2002 transition period in Europe for the introduction of euro notes and coins and the withdrawal of the national currencies, the biggest currency changeover in world history.

In the end, mainly through small individual donations at Bank of New York branches throughout the tri-state region, ECNY raised $26,793.00 for the Twin Towers Fund, which gives support to the families of uniformed New York City employees (policemen, firemen, rescue workers) who lost their lives.

As an added bonus, in the run-up to the euro's physical introduction, the NY and US national media picked up on ECNY as a positive, local angle to the dramatic currency changeover story in Europe.

At a reception hosted on April 9, 2002 by Ambassador John B. Richardson, Head of the European Commission's Delegation to the UN, Bank of New York Vice Chairman Alan Griffith presented a check on behalf of ECNY to Mr. Larry Levy, President of the Twin Towers Fund, in the presence of NYC Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner for the UN Consular Corps, Ms. Marjorie Tiven (Mayor Bloomberg's sister) and Mr. Bradford Billet, respectively.

| Arriba |

• Description of the European Commission Delegation in New York (1/4/2005)