911DayOfService.org

As Sept 11 comes back around, I have been doing some reading and just reviewing 9/11 events, stories, etc. This year America celebrates Sept 11 National Day of Service & Remembrance, a wonderful way for citizens across the country to come together in a spirit of unity - in service to their own communities. This website has been a great resource in finding out more about the Day of Service/Remembrance, what it means, what people are doing, etc. Also, this site reviews the events of 9/11, and provides important links to other informative sites (that you have probably seen in the past). A good overall overview of the story of 9/11, including updates and links to the Sept 11 Memorial & Museum, and much more.

911DayOfService.org

I hope you will take a look, and if you have a good resource on 9/11, maybe you can share it with us here! thanks.

Gavin Degraw website

First off, I would like to say that Community Service of any kind is admirable, but I can tell you that after speaking with 4 families directly affected who lost loved ones that day, that NONE of them were aware of President Obama signing HR 1388- The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which included changing 9/11 from Patriot Day to The 9/11 day of Service and Remembrance.

• Offical Summary

"The Serve America Act of 2009 (H.R. 1388) aims to expand the number of volunteer service opportunities for Americans, with a federal goal of 250,000 positions for AmeriCorps volunteers, seniors, students and veterans. The legislation creates a framework for an expanded service program, and would cost $5.7 billion over a six-year period. The legislation was signed by President Barack Obama on April 21, 2009. He has requested $1.1 billion in the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget to fund the first year."

To me, that is a staggering amount of money. You may also wish to take a look at HR 1444- Congressional Commission on Civil Service Act which is pending. (Here's a small part of it...(5) The effect on the Nation, on those who serve, and on the families of those who serve, if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service.

Secondly, the Founders of Mygooddeed.org claim that 22 Groups related to 9/11 were involved in making this happen, but many of them have disbanded since 2001. My neighbor was unable to find not a one locally that she could get assistance in finding Counseling for her Husband who has developed a delayed stress disorder as recently as 2 year ago. (His brother is shown in images) There is nothing on his web site showing a list of these organizations or a petition of names.

Lastly, in the body of the Legislation, The Corporation For National and Community Service a government entity, allows for grants to be provided for 9/11 Memorials and activities. Some of the beneficiaries could be Green Initiatives, American Indians...some of the recipents of funds from this Corporation are not listed on the site, including ACORN, who has misused funds. Just recently, a disturbing advertisment created by Brazilian add agency DDB showing dozens of planes flying into the twin towers. The ad was done for World Wildlife Foundation as a way to promote awareness about protecting the planet. Fortunately, it caused enough of a stir to be pulled.

I have grave concerns with relegating 9/11 to a Day of Service and it being used as a catalyst to expand Federal goals. It takes something away from the breadth of tragedy we faced as a Nation when Organizations are competing for funding and volunteers, which at some point may become mandatory. The families I have spoken with feel similarly and that as time passes, the sense of Community will be the outstanding thought vs. respect for our fallen heros.

Planting trees, visiting the elderly, tutoring children, all admirable and needed, but not relevant to 9/11 and those who are still in need like victims, military personnel, and all first responders in any catastrophic event, like the Coast Guard, The National Guard, et al; and those who serve in protecting our ports and against future terrorist attacks.

Reserve Earth Day for those initiatives or National Volunteer Week or Month or whatever people want to do.
I feel Obama overstepped his boundaries by signing this service aspect into the Name of the Day and the agenda of National Service. We already now have a Martin Luther King Day of Service.
Tsk Tsk, and I voted for the man and agree with most of his policies, but this, after further investigation, looks all warm and fuzzy on the outside, but appears to have an agenda.

Always Remember, Never Forget

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So suddenly it takes a 5.7b spending bill for us to serve our country. I can only imagine the number of cronies being paid off with this money.

I personally keep this day special. It doesn't have to be nationally recognized for me to know in my heart what happened.

I know many people including myself who work harder on this day instead of taking the day off. And, we work harder to honor those who worked for this nation regarding those attacks. One friend said she wouldn't give the terrorists the benefit of this day of not work. Terrorist know they can hurt our hearts and our pocketbooks, but as Americans we are stronger than them.

I have lots to do today~~~~~

My heart goes to out to each of you who lost someone September 11, 2001, worked in rescue or were affected in some way.

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Helping others is a gift.

Quote:

Americans Help Each Other On 9/11 Anniversary by The Associated Press Mark Lennihan/APThe World Trade Center construction site is shown Friday in New York. September 11, 2009 Drawing on the spirit that spurred volunteers to rush to the burning World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans looked for ways to help each other on a day better known for mourning the thousands of people killed in the nation's worst terrorist attack. Teresa Mathai, whose husband, Joseph Mathai, died at the World Trade Center eight years ago Friday, planned to grieve at a morning wreath-laying ceremony in Boston and hear his name read out loud. Then she planned to install drywall at a low-income home in south Boston with Habitat for Humanity, one of thousands of volunteer efforts planned since Sept. 11 was declared a national day of service. "Everyone has a different way of mourning," she said. "Some people keep it absolutely sacred. For me, this is something that gives us solace." The combination of mourning and national giving was troubling to some who feared the volunteerism would overshadow a somber day to remember the four hijacked jetliners that crashed into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people, most in New York. "When I first heard about it, I was concerned," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the pilot of the American Airlines jet that crashed into the Pentagon. "I fear, I greatly fear, at some point we'll transition to turning it into Earth Day where we go and plant trees and the remembrance part will become smaller and smaller and smaller." Scott Applewhite/APA rain-soaked American flag flies at half-staff Friday at the Pentagon memorial to honor the 125 people who were killed in the 2001 terror attacks Thousands were expected at now-familiar ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in a Shanksville, Pa., field. At a park southeast of ground zero, family members were to join with volunteers who made firefighters meals or removed tons of debris from the smoldering trade center site to read victims' names. Four moments of silence were planned in New York - for when jetliners crashed into each tower and for when each tower collapsed. Vice President Joseph Biden was to attend the ceremony. A wreath was to be laid at a memorial to the Pentagon, where 184 people died when a jet slammed into the building. President Barack Obama and Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates were to meet with victims' family members. The president would "speak about what the day means and the sacrifices of thousands, not just at the Pentagon, but in Pennsylvania and certainly and most obviously in New York," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday. The president on Thursday pledged to "apprehend all those who perpetrated these heinous crimes, seek justice for those who were killed and defend against all threats to our national security." In Pennsylvania, the names of the 40 passengers and crew of United 93 were to be read at 10:03 a.m., the time the plane crashed. Jose Melendez-Perez, a customs agent credited with refusing U.S. entry to a man officials believe was supposed to be the fifth hijacker aboard the flight, was going to the site for the first time. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was giving the keynote speech. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who will also be at the memorial service in New York, said Friday that the anniversary is a "day of sorrow and tragedy, but also a day of heroism and unity," and that remembrance and volunteerism are fitting memorials. "By serving our communities and our country today and throughout the year, we commemorate our past while also preparing for our future," Napolitano said. Across the country, a fundraiser to repair storm damage at Central Park, beach cleanups and repairs of homeless shelters were among the organized efforts to give back. Obama and Congress declared Sept. 11 a day of service earlier this year. A Cleveland service organization planned to paint pies cooling, flower vases and sleeping cats resting on windowsills on boarded-up, abandoned properties in a Slavic neighborhood. A Boston group founded by victims' family members - two of the four planes left from Boston - planned to write letters to U.S. soldiers overseas and pack care packages. Over 100 volunteers in San Jose, Calif., planned to plant fruit and vegetable gardens for low-income families. The attacks killed 40 people in Pennsylvania, 184 at the Pentagon and 2,752 in New York. This year, one new name will be read - a victim added to New York's death toll in January. The medical examiner's office ruled that Leon Heyward, who died last year of lymphoma and lung disease, was a homicide victim because he was caught in the toxic dust cloud just after the towers collapsed. It's the second time the city has added to the victims' list someone who died long after Sept. 11, ruling that exposure to toxic dust caused lung disease.

as stated in this article, everyone mourns and remembers 9/11 in their own way. There is beauty and meaning in capturing that spirit of unity and helping one another which arose out of 9/11 - each year in service to our communities. This is the kind of movement that can really make a difference in lives, in communities.. and in the world.

Sept 11 remains and always will be a day of Remembrance.. we will all pay tribute in our own ways. may we pass the story of 9/11, along with the spirit of america - to our children today and always.

I agree with you. I think the big picture is to never forget and always remember as Mango says. How one remembers this day is up to them.

If we stopped and thought how many of our holidays have turned in to drunken fests, I believe and hope this day will always be one of quiet reflection and hopefully good deeds.

God Bless America.

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The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open.

National September 11 Memorial & Museum
at the World Trade Center
remember . learn . updates

I was thinking about this today (obvious, being that it's the 11th). For a moment I was able to take myself back to that morning where the over arching feeling of control, safety, and invulnerability we all feel in America was completely shattered, and the feelings I felt when I watched those two towers come down. It brought tears to my eyes. It may well become a day of service for those who were not around, but for me it's a very important day of remembrance.

absolutely a day of remembrance for any and all of us - hopefully a day of remembrance even for young people who may not remember. Read some of the stories out there across America today and know this: many who have lost loved ones in 9/11 are doing a lot of community service right now - it is their way of remembering, and turning it into something that helps others and makes their communities stronger. it does not have to be one or the other. it is not Service v. Remembrance. unless of course, that is how you choose to see it.

Tootsie, I agree. the two things are not mutually exclusive. I think honoring those who chose to sacrifice their lives in an effort to save others..those first responders who ran up those stairs knowing they might not return can be honored by serving others. It is the highest honor we can pay to the lives of those who chose a life of service.

That in no way, IMO, takes away from the memory and remembrance of those others who died.

I like to think that if those who were killed that day could see young people and old people and people from all walks of life stopping for a moment every September 11 and remembering and then heading out to help an elderly shut-in take her medicine, or tutor a fatherless child in reading, or give a person in a wheel chair a ride to the doctors office...or plant a community garden in an abandoned inner city lot, or help a new citizen learn English...and say they were doing it to honor the first responders who died in the towers...I like to think that all those people would smile to know that we all not only keep them in our hearts, but have opened our hearts a bit wider to give, because of what happened to them that day.

And maybe in some small way, those hundreds of acts of service and remembrance can ripple out to our country and aid in the healing that we so badly need.

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“The president of lies quotes the voices of God.” W. S. Merwin, Poet Laureate

That's what we do in this Country when there is a catastrophe. We band together and help one another. Volunteerism and random acts of kindness are performed every day, by ordinary people, without having a Service day.

The Obama administration promised us transparency, so if the wishes of the majority of Families who lost loved ones on 9/11 was to change the name from Patriot Day to Service and Remembrance, then there should be a petition of names posted on gooddeeds.org. or somewhere. It isn't like the deceased are anonymous. Their names are read aloud every year. When families who lost blood relatives tell you they had no idea the name was to be changed; that many 9/11 support groups have disbanded, then red flags are raised. If someone finds it, please post it, because I searched till I was blue.

Instead, a Bill sponsored by Kennedy to promote volunteerism is used as a catalyst and billions of dollars are set aside for all kinds of Organizations that some have nothing to do with benefiting any kind of first response teams or Organizations of the like.

GW Bush had stated that he would like to see volunteerism on 9/11, but the name of the day was not changed, and monies were not allocated to such.

I do not wish for 9/11 to be a day of fear and constant mourning. I like the idea of people touching others lives in some shape or form and an air of community. But, to politicize it is another issue with a name change and billions of tax payer dollars to get people to volunteer for Organizations or promote green environments. Why not could have commercials been aired with the wishes of the Families and schools been included to teach children the spirit of helping one another via unsolicited acts of kindness through volunteerism that ensued after the attack? I am sure that it would have cost a less than 5.7 trillion dollars over the next 5 years.

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thank you for your words which capture the spirit and beauty of such a widespread effort. So many people have worked over the last several years making the Service Act possible - and Obama has all along told us that we must get involved and get to work on behalf of our communities. this is a good start, imo.