9/11 Call

Shawn Parr raised almost $50,000 for the victims of the attacks-and that was just the next day. The 36-year-old CEO of Bulldog Drummond, a public relations firm in San Diego, did it by promising $15,000 to the New York City victims and e-mailing clients and vendors, asking them to add money to the pot.

Parr grew up in London, a city that's no stranger to terrorism, but September 11 has made him more familiar than ever with terror attacks. "I was due to fly to New York City on September 11, at 8 a.m.," he says. "And box cutters were found on that plane."

A week after the attacks, Parr told his staff, "It's typical to do something immediately after the attacks, and then do nothing." That inspired his production manager to spearhead a 5K run/walk, which Bulldog Drummond held November 11, raising $25,000 for World Trade Center relief funds.

"I'm a firm believer that in the face of adversity, you must never give up, you must never give in, and the only thing I could do was put my hands in my pockets and dig deep," says Parr. "We live in a cynical society, I believe. We watch bad news on TV, roll our eyes, and then we click over and watch Friends. Well, this was different."

Geoff Williams is a freelance writer in Cincinnati.

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This article was originally published in the February 2002 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: 9/11 Call.