USD Magazine, Fall 2002

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ii .-JI~ THE Big Apple teers, outlining the work that needed to be done. He also

managed a Web site where vol– unteers could sign up directly for various projects. The pleas for help came in from across the city. Asociacion Tepeyac de New York, a tiny group that advocates for undocu– mented Latino immigrants, needed job trainers to critique resumes, instruct computer courses or

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looking to serve their community. Toward, who joined the organ– ization just weeks after Sept. I I, spent nine months managing 8,000 volunteers who logged more than 49,000 hours on 1,200 projects for 45 agencies. " Every New Yorker felt com– pelled to help, and this was a way I could contribute. So when the opportunity present– ed itself, I took it," says the 36-year-old Toward, an interna– tional relations major who has made New York his home for four years. "A deluge of people from all walks of life dropped what they were doing to help in whatever way they could, and it was our job to find a place for them."

It was not uncommon for Toward to work 14- to 16-hour days, seven days a week, fielding phone calls or e-mails from vol– unteer organizations looking for assistance. On any given day, he'd send 50 people to Red

CONVERGED on Manhattan looking for ways to help in the wake of the Sept. I I terrorist attacks, administrators of a volunteer network knew they needed help organizing the well-meaning crowds. Christopher Toward '89 was their answer. Toward, who ran a New York consulting firm helping founda– tions and nonprofits with their philanthropic endeavors, was tapped to direct the disaster recovery program for New York Cares, which connects groups needing volunteers with people

Organizer Directs September I I Volunteers

Cross respite centers to aid res– cuers at Ground Zero, IO people to cook and serve meals at downtown soup kitchens, or 20 volunteers to help victims' fami– lies fill out benefits paperwork. Toward constantly shot out mass e-mails to a bank of volun-

teach English as a second lan– guage. Nina's, a restaurant on Canal Street just north of the disaster site, served free meals to recovery workers and was desperate for cooks, waiters and dishwashers.And New York State Emergency Management

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