World's First Online Memorial Quilt Honors U.S. Resiliency and Heroism;
Millions Expected to Pay Tribute

CLEVELAND, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- An enormous quilt, measuring more than 30 miles long on each side and large enough to blanket 14,285 beds, will be completed in just a few months' time. But no fabric, thread or needles will be used to create it. Instead, people from all 50 states and many countries around the world will send millions of "patches" through Cyberspace to make the world's first online memorial quilt.

The free memorial quilt is hosted as a public service by the AmericanGreetings.com network of sites and sponsored by America Online and MSN. It allows anyone with Internet access to pay tribute to the strength and resiliency of the United States, and the heroes of Sept. 11 by creating quilt patches overlaid with personal messages.

See http://www.911memorialquilt.com/ .

How does it work? According to Charlie Fink, chairman, AmericanGreetings.com network, participants create the patches by supplying
email addresses, names, states and two-line messages they wish to convey.

"Within 24 hours, participants receive emails from us notifying them we have added their patches to the quilt and providing a link to the section of quilt containing their patch." Fink stressed email addresses and personal information are being used exclusively for the quilt project and will not be saved.

The completed online memorial quilt will be composed of a montage of three "patches." One patch depicts the Statue of Liberty in front of an American flag while another shows a gathering of people with lit candles and joined hands. The third quilt patch illustrates a dove in flight.

"For most of us, there is such a complex range of feelings and thoughts associated with this event," Fink said. "We tried really hard to address a full spectrum of emotions."

Fink said the idea for a virtual memorial came directly from some of the company's artists, who approached him about finding a way to bring the online community together for a memorial tribute. "They felt the scale and immediacy of the World Wide Web gave them a way to make a difference and bring together millions of people not just from the U.S., but from all over the world.

"I gave them free rein and asked them to come back to me with their original concepts on how to make that happen. We ultimately chose the idea of an online memorial quilt because a quilt is such a warm American icon. Plus, the idea of millions of patches joining together to form one whole seemed like an appropriate symbol of the way the United States and its allies around the world pulled together after the attacks."

Typing in http://www.911memorialquilt.com/ on one's browser provides access to the memorial tribute now through October 31. The quilt is also accessible from the home pages of the following sites: AmericanGreeetings.com, BlueMountain.com, Egreetings.com and PassItAround.com.