Celebrity News April 20, 2007
Tom Cruise: Helping the Rescue Workers of Sept. 11
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were at their philanthropic best in the Big Apple Thursday night, as they stormed New York to help raise money for the 9/11 New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project.
"Nearly six years later, many rescue workers are still paying a price for their heroic service at the World Trade Center," Cruise told the crowd.
The project, while heroic in thought, has set off a firestorm of controversy in the New York papers.
While some medical experts claim the detox doesn't work, Tom, the co-founder of the program, believes in the treatment based on the principals of Scientology.
"Day in, day out since September 2002, this project has proven that they do not have to suffer," Cruise said. "Hundreds and hundreds of lives and families have been restored."
Joining Tom at the $6,000 a plate dinner was "World Trade Center" actor Michael Pena and a parade of rescue workers who say their lives are better for having gone through the program.
"The only reason why I got better and my brother got better is because of you... because you people donated to this program," admitted NYPD Lieutenant Owen McCafrey. "And I want to say thank you Tom and Kate; if it wasn't for you this wouldn't be going on."
And that is exactly the couple's mission: "Every time I hear that someone is doing better... this night is incredibly gratifying. What it represents to me are the people who have gotten better... and their families... and their children," Tom said.
The proceeds from last night's event, including the $30,000 Tom paid for a special edition fire fighter Harley Davidson, went to the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project.