January 2002

WTC Volinteer Profile

It was an average day in downtown Manhattan when an excited woman ran up to a table located on the first floor of an old abandoned bank branch in downtown New York City. Sitting at the table was a lone CPA surrounded by a pile of papers. Flush with excitement, the woman said to the CPA seated at the table: “I got a $10,600 loan from the SBA (Small Business Administration). Thank you for helping me get the loan!”

“That was nice,” said Gerald L. Kestenbaum, a CPA from White Plains, N.Y., reflecting on the woman’s enthusiasm weeks later. “It felt good.”

Kestenbaum, partner in the CPA firm of Kestenbaum & Gershenoff CPAs, had earlier helped the woman complete her SBA application for a loan to help her small business, located blocks from the rubble of “ground zero,” the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The woman, who needed the loan to help keep her business afloat in the aftermath of the tragic events, had come to Kestenbaum for assistance in completing the form that requires a current financial statement and copies of tax returns for the past three years.

Kestenbaum has helped many other victims of the World Trade Center tragedy in a similar fashion over the past few months. He is one of the New York State Society of CPAs volunteer members who work at a help center in lower Manhattan, selflessly providing their time and expertise to help victims of the Sept. 11 attack rebuild their lives and their businesses.

The volunteer program was born out of a desire by member CPAs to help victims recover from the tragedy. It began with an initial request by the Society for members to help WTC-area victims, but has expanded to include a hotline and the help center. The program has connected victims with CPAs who answer their financial, tax and government filing questions.

Volunteer members of the Society have, over the past few months, formed a network of member CPAs, which has provided assistance to a number of the victims.

Kestenbaum was one of the first CPAs to volunteer his time. When asked why he decided to devote a portion of his time every week, he cited a number of reasons.

In part, Kestenbaum credited the overwhelming bonding experiences that have been taking place with ordinary people throughout the area and the country since the disaster. In addition, he pointed to former Mayor Rudolph Guiliani’s request months ago for New Yorkers to normalize things in the aftermath of the events. But Kestenbaum also admits he wanted to volunteer because the events have personally touched him.

“I came into the city just days after the attack, on Thursday afternoon, and was hit by how it was so quiet,” Kestenbaum said. “I couldn’t believe how quiet.”

So the CPA from White Plains, who admits that he had not volunteered for anything since high school, said it was time to give something back. “I may not be altruistic, but I felt I had a block of time in my days and I felt I had to do it,” he said.

Yet, he admits that the time spent volunteering has taken an emotional toll on him. He said he has shed a lot of tears working at the help center.

Kestenbaum related a story that greatly touched him about a woman who came to the center in the third or fourth week after Sept. 11. The woman, a physical therapist, ran her business from a loft located in a restricted zone near ground zero. Needing to put together a financial statement for a business loan, she had to retrieve her bank statements from the loft. But when she was allowed access to it, she could not get herself to go back inside. The woman left the center before anyone could help with her situation.

Kestenbaum has helped many people and has witnessed a lot since Sept. 11. The CPA volunteer has regularly dedicated his entire Monday each week, at times staying past 6 p.m. at the 110 Maiden Lane help center to aid victims. He can remember days where he remained busy from the early morning hours to the evening when he returned home.

Though he has spent countless hours assisting people and businesses with their recovery, Kestenbaum wishes he could do more and remains concerned about the future.

“I said to my wife that I know that tax season is coming up and I know I am getting busy. I know at some time I have to pull back from volunteering here,” he said.