NEW YORK — The Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced Saturday a fundraising initiative to help the families and widows of slain and injured Dallas police officers in the wake of last week’s tragedy.
As of Sunday, the foundation has raised more than $300,000. The widows of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos each donated $10,000, according to a news release.
Pei Xia Chen and Maritza Ramos, the widows of Liu and Ramos, also plan to visit Dallas and meet with the widows, according to a news release. They endured similar tragedies when their husbands were killed.
Liu and Ramos were sitting in their patrol car in Bedford-Stuyvesant when they were shot in December 2014 by a man who said he was retaliating against police for the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner.
Thank you @Tunnel2Towers for allowing us to make the 1st donation to raise money for the families of @DallasPD pic.twitter.com/LEUOFpB7bJ
— Ramos Foundation (@Det_Ramosfndn) July 9, 2016
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has also donated $10,000 to the fundraiser.
Tunnel to Towers previously raised $1.2 million for home renovations and mortgages for the Liu and Ramos families after the two officers were murdered in 2014, the foundation wrote on its Facebook page.
Within five hours of the fundraiser going live Saturday, the foundation had received over $270,000 from donors in every state and from across the world, according to a news release.
The foundation honors the memory of firefighter Stephen Siller who was killed on 9/11.
If you wish to help, donate here.