Stories from the Heart
Cantor Fitzgerald Remembers 9/11 with the Babies Heart Fund
No company was more gravely impacted by the attacks of September 11, 2001, than Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial institution that had its world headquarters in the World Trade Center. More than 700 people affiliated with Cantor perished on that day. Each year, Cantor commemorates the somber anniversary and mourns the incalculable loss by donating 100 percent of their global revenues on Charity Day to The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, which supports hundreds of charities around the world. Cantor takes the opportunity both to grieve and do good.
This year, CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer was among the celebrities who visited Cantor on Charity Day, thanking the brokers and chatting with clients on the phone. Cramer’s cause was the Babies Heart Fund, one of the many organizations benefitting from Cantor’s generosity. “In all my years in the business, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a satisfying day on a trading desk,” Cramer observed on his broadcast.
Cramer’s wife, Lisa Detwiler, is a Babies Heart Fund board member. Her daughter, Grace, died of congenital heart disease. Grace continues to serve as the family’s inspiration for their involvement with the Babies Heart Fund -- as Cramer notes about his wife, “Lisa is tireless in her work to make sure that no other children suffer the same fate.”
Past celebrity participants in Cantor’s fundraising day have included star athletes like New York Giants quarterback Peyton Manning, New York Rangers legend Mark Messier, and U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick; actors Nicole Kidman, Rosie Perez, Matthew McConaughey, Billy Crudup, and Kenan Thompson; and hip hop pioneers Run-DMC.
As Howard Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, observes about his firm’s commitment to its charity day: “By turning something viciously horrible into something beautiful, and doing it together, with our clients, with our employees, and with our communities, we will build something great, which proves that you can never keep us down.”
The Babies Heart Fund supports Columbia’s demonstrated excellence and leadership in the care of children with congenital heart disease, and fosters innovative research and medical education in this specialty. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect in the United States. CHDs are present at birth, and they affect the structure of a baby's heart and the way it works. The research funded by the Babies Heart Fund saves and improves the lives of countless children around the world.
To hear Cramer talk about his time on the Cantor trading desk, click here. To find out more about Cantor Fitzgerald’s Charity Day, click here. And to find out more about the Babies Heart Fund, click here.
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Chambers
Samantha Roskind, daughter of Babies Heart Fund Board Co-Chair Scott Roskind, introduced an adorable watch owl character named Chambers to the greater BHF community in the Summer of 2019. Through dedicated fundraising, Samantha was able to bring Chambers to “life” as a plush toy, designed to comfort Columbia’s Pediatric Cardiology patients in their time of need, give them a loving hug and bring a smile to our youngest patients. Chambers also exists on the page, in a book written and created by Samantha, called “The Life of Chambers.”