9/11 Memorial Plates Are a Hit With Californians

The rest of the nation may tag Californians with labels like flakes, nuts and tree-huggers, but there is no doubt we are also patriots.

Consider that a new California license plate commemorating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is now the state’s hottest selling specialty plate, surpassing plates that celebrate children, the coast, the arts and Yosemite National Park.

Californians have put their money where their hearts are by ordering nearly 11,000 of the Sept. 11, 2001, plates between July, when they were first offered, and Dec. 31.

That means the red, white and blue plates emblazoned with the words “We Will Never Forget” have been selling at a pace of about 1,800 per month.

By comparison, the next best-selling plate, a design that raises money for children’s programs, is selling about 1,600 a month. A plate design that celebrates the California coast is selling about 1,500 a month.

“After the attack, people turned to their cars to express themselves,” said Thomas McFeeley, a spokesman for Rewards for Justice, a nonprofit organization that has promoted several Sept. 11 commemorative plates.

“People put on bumper stickers and flags. But flags tatter and stickers peel off. People want something permanent.”

Most of the revenue from sales of the “Never Forget” plate, which costs an initial $50 plus a $40 annual fee, are used to support law enforcement programs that target terrorism.

A smaller portion is set aside to fund $5,000 scholarships for the children of the 200 or so Californians killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Such plates are not unique to California.

More than a dozen other states now offer or plan to offer Sept. 11 memorial plates.

They bear such slogans as “United We Stand,” “Proud to Be American” and “God Bless America.” Money from the sales is going to fight terrorism and to provide aid to victims and charities.

But in other states, sales of memorial plates have been mixed.

In Missouri, the “Show Me” state, residents have yet to show much interest in the new “God Bless America” plates.

The state has received only 19 applications since the plate went on sale in August.

And 14 of those applications were rejected because the applicants did not make a required $10 donation to a World War II fund, according to a Missouri spokeswoman.

New York, site of the World Trade Center attacks, has yet to offer a memorial plate.

Michigan -- believed to be the first state to offer a memorial plate -- began taking orders for its “Proud to Be American” design four weeks after the attacks. The state has sold more than 33,000 of them at $35 each. Hawaii began at the end of 2001 to offer a plate inscribed “America United, Sept. 11, 2001.” The Aloha state has already sold nearly 17,500.

The Rewards for Justice group spearheaded efforts to create “United We Stand” plates in Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The five states combined sold about 15,000 in the last year. New Jersey is now offering the same plates.

The group hopes to push legislation through in another 30 states to establish similar license plate programs.

Proceeds from the “United We Stand” plates will pay for rewards that the U.S. State Department can offer for information leading to the arrest of terrorists.

In California, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City) led the effort to create the “We Will Never Forget” plates.

Two Southern California boys, Dash Samoy, a student at Alan F. Daily High School in Glendale, and David Amond of Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, won a contest to design the plates.

Eric Billigmeier, a West Los Angeles resident who works in television production, recently ordered his memorial California plate after seeing them advertised on a billboard near the Beverly Center.

He said he had been touched by the tragedy of the terrorist attacks but didn’t know how he could help.

“When 9/11 happened, I think we all sat and watched it on TV and eventually we started to think about how we can help,” Billigmeier said.

“There is not much you can do when you are Joe Citizen, but at least this is something,” he said.

When the plates were unveiled, Wesson said he hoped to get them on at least 5% of the state’s 26 million vehicles.

Even though sales are still far from that goal, Wesson said he is content that the plates have outsold all other specialty tags.

“I am very pleased that Californians are buying this plate at the rate they are buying them,” he said.

“As more are on the road and people see them, that rate will increase.”

Still, it may take years before the plates can raise enough money to offer $5,000 scholarships to all California survivors of the terrorist attacks.

Only 15% of the proceeds go toward the scholarships, with the rest going to anti-terrorism efforts.

At this point, the plates have generated about $82,500 -- barely enough for 16 college scholarships.

Still, Wesson vows not to give up.

“I may have a gray beard by then, but I’ll keep trying,” he said.

*

If you have a gripe, question or story idea about driving in Southern California, write to Behind the Wheel, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail behindthewheel@latimes.com.