Minnesota Foundation Selected to Administer Fund Honoring Flight 93 Passenger Thomas Burnett

St. Paul-based Minnesota Foundation has been selected to administer a charitable fund honoring Thomas Edward Burnett Jr., who died during the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11. Burnett's alma mater, Thomas Jefferson High School in Bloomington, Minn., established the Thomas Burnett Memorial Education Fund with the Burnett family.

Burnett graduated from Jefferson in 1981 and led the school's football team to the state finals in 1980. The Burnett Fund will provide scholarships to graduating seniors at the school and support educational programming to benefit all students.

Burnett is described by family and friends as a man of intellect and integrity with a keen wit. He was devoted to his wife and daughters, his parents and his sisters. He embraced life, was an avid reader and history buff, and was driven by a strong sense of faith and citizenship.

Minnesota Foundation, with technology from DoTheGood, Inc., has established an online giving option at www.mnfoundation.org for donations to the Burnett Fund. Contributions are tax-deductible and can also be made to: Thomas Burnett Memorial Education Fund of Minnesota Foundation, Minnesota Foundation, 55 Fifth Street East, Suite 600, St. Paul, MN 55101.

For more information about the fund, contact Lyle Odland, Thomas Jefferson High School's principal, at 952/844-5000, or e-mail Deb Holman, assistant principal, at dholman@bloomington.K12.mn.us.