Rhonda Roland Shearer is an American sculptor, scholar, and journalist, who founded the nonprofit organization Art Science Research Laboratory[1] with her late husband Stephen Jay Gould.
After being disappointed with her attempts to donate through official channels, she converted a 3,000 sq ft art studio about 1 mile from the World Trade Center into a one-stop-shop for crucial supplies that first responders needed.
[5] From her Spring Street warehouse, she and a legion of volunteers[6][7][8] began distributing supplies directly to emergency workers; donated items included gloves, face masks, hard hats, respirators, T-shirts, underwear, pants, jackets, steel toe boots, and tools.
The New York Times reported, “One thing is certain: to many of the workers at the site, she is a heroine.”[5] Shearer later told The Washington Post that she had borrowed $1 million to finance her efforts, repaying the debt after the crisis with the help of money donated from foundations and individuals.
[10] Shearer founded Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes and worked to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes, and hazmat suits, to firefighters, hospital workers, organizations focused on helping people with special needs, and low-income individuals.
[11] Shearer explained in an interview on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show that she used her knowledge from front line work post 9/11 and the contacts she amassed to acquire PPE at notably low prices.
Rhonda Roland Shearer and Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes have stepped forward to help the oft-neglected special needs community and its service providers."
New York Magazine states, “Over the years, Housing Works has been touted as one of the most innovative AIDS organizations in the country.”[17] Realizing there was a need to enhance fundraising, Shearer proposed the creation of an upscale thrift store and offered $100,000 to cover its startup costs.
The location is disclosed as a 150-acre (0.61 km2) low fence enclosure within the larger 2,500-acre (1,000 ha) commercial hunting preserve called Lost Creek Plantation,[28] outside Anniston, Alabama, USA.
StinkyJournalism.org interviewed a retired New York University physicist, Dr. Richard Brandt, who used perspective geometry to measure the photograph and showed that, as represented, the pig would be 15 ft (4.57 m) long—much larger than the 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) claimed.
[33] The article ("Exclusive: Grand jury to investigate 'monster pig' kill") revealed information subpoenaed by the Clay County District Attorney Fred Thompson, which includes hundreds of hours of on-the-record interviews and research by StinkyJournalism.org director Rhonda Roland Shearer.
Spadafora had supervised the New York City Fire Department recovery efforts after the September 11 attacks, and his death from cancer was attributed to his exposure to the World Trade Center site.