9/11 Terrorist Attacks

Tribute in Light from Jersey City, 9/11/04. By Derek Jensen (Tysto) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

“On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA… Passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania… The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations.” (9/11 Memorial & Museum.)

We each have our own memories and experiences of how we were affected by the events of September 11th. We knew then, and continue to know now, that our country and the world would never be the same. The resulting sociocultural and financial climate post-9/11 would have a significant impact on many institutions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations, including the NBA.

Read “Terrorism’s Aftermath: Keep an Eye on Yourself and Others,” from the NBA Bugle (Vol. 9, Issue 3, Fall 2001).

“During one week following Sept. 11, NBA lost more money in its investment portfolio than we spent in benevolent care during the previous year,” said C.B. Ellis, NBA Vice President of Finance, in a Family Talk article in 2002. “NBA’s investment portfolio… dropped almost 26 percent during the week following the attacks. As we stand now, we’ve gotten back much of what we lost as a direct result of Sept. 11. We have not, however, regained what we lost in the financial markets during the 12 months prior to the terrorist attacks,” referencing the ensuing financial recession caused by the dot-com crash.

“Nonprofits struggle with the lingering effects of recession and terrorism. After 9/11, some direct service outreach nonprofits lost funding because attention was focused on helping the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Although poor families still needed help to get food, clothes, and shelter, they became ‘second-wave’ victims of this national tragedy, since there was less money available.” –Washington Post, 6/25/04.