The US President, Mr George W Bush today asked Americans to dig deeper for charities suffering low donations due to the surge in giving for September 11th victims.
"There's no question that our country has been deeply wounded," he told an audience of volunteers at the charity organization So Others Might Eat (SOME). "After all, we were never used to being attacked. Never did we dream - I certainly never dreamt that I'd be the president where there is a war on our homefront."
Calling the outpouring of support in the aftermath of the attacks "outstanding," Mr Bush said: "People gave. They gave blood. They gave money. They gave time to help."
And he asked them to go on giving "in order to keep the homefront secure, in order to make sure that we don't allow the terrorists to achieve any objective."
White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer told reporters a recent survey found 26 per cent of Americans had stopped giving or reduced the amount of money they gave to charities they normally supported as a result of their increased donations for September 11th charitable causes.
"I have been disturbed by reports that charitable giving has dropped off," Bush said. "I hope Americans will not substitute the gifts they have given in the aftermath of September 11th for neighborhood groups. And so, therefore, I ask Americans to dig a little deeper in their pocket."