SEIZED DRUG FUNDS GO TO A GOOD CAUSE

Drug dealers who have been caught and sent to jail can feel happy about one
thing: Their ill-gotten gains are being put to good use.

District Attorney William L. Murphy yesterday donated $12,500 in "drug
money" -- profits seized from drug dealers -- to the Staten Island
Children's Campaign.

Looking fit and healthy after undergoing a kidney transplant operation
earlier this year, Murphy presented the check to campaign coordinator Louis
DeLuca and organization president Mike Fortunato in Murphy's St. George office.

The "asset forfeiture" program, said Murphy, is one of the best
drug-enforcement tools, a threat to drug dealers that they not only risk
prison, but the loss of their money, cars and homes.

"We're taking money from the bad guys and giving it to the good guys," said
Murphy.

The annual campaign sponsored by the Advance reels in funds that are then
allocated to 20 different children's organizations on the Island.

"The best part," said DeLuca, "is that not one penny of the donations is
spent on overhead -- 100 percent goes to the kids."

Fortunato said the $12,500 contributed by Murphy will help the campaign
reach this year's goal of $125,000. Last year, the campaign raised $100,000.

"This is probably the largest single gift that we will receive for the fund
this year," said DeLuca, who is also the chief executive officer of the New
Dorp-based United Activities Unlimited.

Murphy said he feels the campaign helps keep Island kids from straying onto
the wrong path.

A variety of activities are planned between now and the Feb. 15 close of
the campaign, including volunteers "canning" at the St. George Ferry
Terminal and "dress-down Fridays" in a variety of Staten Island workplaces.