Remembering 9/11: Honoring Through Service to Others

Cathy Moretenson of Miami, Fla., is planning to remember the events of September 11, 2001, this year by purchasing school supplies for a family of six on public assistance. Stacy Towery is leading a group of 25 volunteers in Nashville, Tenn., to assemble and ship care packages and write letters to our service men and women overseas. Andrew Reinholz in Mesa, Ariz., plans to purchase a van to provide transportation for a boy with cerebral palsy. Melissa Lowry in Morgantown, W.Va., is surprising a random mother with $10 at the grocery store. Flo Stahly of West Chester, Ohio, will host a blood drive for her 450 fitness center members. And Lisa Scheive of Pompano Beach, Fla., intends to simply rescue turtles she sees crossing the road.  

All told, it is anticipated that tens of thousands of individuals will volunteer in their own special way this year through myGoodDeed.org, a nonprofit grassroots initiative established to observe the anniversary of 9/11 as a national day of service, charitable acts, and good deeds.

Created with the support of twenty-two 9/11 family, volunteer, and survivor member groups, myGoodDeed.org encourages individuals and organizations to perform charitable acts and other forms of service as a long-term way to remember and honor the victims, survivors, volunteers, and rescue and recovery workers of 9/11.  

Friends David Paine and Jay Winuk founded myGoodDeed.org following the death of Jay's brother Glenn, an attorney and volunteer firefighter who perished in the line of duty on 9/11. So far this year, the initiative's Web site, www.myGoodDeed.org, has received pledges for more than 75,000 good deeds, and visitors from more than 150 different countries and international territories.  

"Over the past five years our nation has been able to pay tribute through important national services, but as time goes by, it is inevitable that these memorial services will gradually and naturally convert to private moments shared mostly by family members and others directly affected by the attacks," said Paine, who serves as president of myGoodDeed.org. "As a nation, if we hope to remember 9/11, we will need to find other ways to acknowledge the significance and impact of the events of that day in our nation's history, and there is no better way to do that than to transform 9/11 into a national day of voluntary service."

More charitable acts
In New York City, as part of a myGoodDeed.org campaign organized by New York Cares, more than 100 volunteers from Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Jones Apparel, MTV, and other organizations will paint murals in a courtyard and revitalize the playground, garden, and other outdoor areas at a local elementary school where 89 percent of the students receive free lunches. Volunteers will also read books with community service themes to second graders and create craft projects related to the themes of the books.   

In Boston, 300 college and university students from five schools will participate in various projects organized by Boston Cares, such as donation sorting at Cradles to Crayons, painting a building at a Boston Housing Authority property, and serving meals to those living with HIV/AIDS.
    
The New York Says Thank You Foundation will be sending more than 100 volunteers from around the country to help rebuild the Groesbeck, Texas, home of James and Eva Vincent, which was destroyed in a tornado last December. Up to 1,000 local volunteers are expected to turn out and help rebuild the home in two days. The New York Says Thank You group will include 25 New York firefighters, some of whom are survivors of the World Trade Center attacks, as well as 9/11 family members, construction workers who oversaw the clean-up efforts at Ground Zero, and other New Yorkers affected by 9/11 who want to give back.