September 11, 2001.
My day started off much like any typical day in the first grade, a classroom full of antsy children struggling to sit still and stay focused during our silent reading time. Our restless silence was interrupted by a telephone ring, followed by a strange expression on my teacher’s face – confusion, sadness, and worry all at the same time. With the sudden shift in the classroom’s atmosphere, sitting still and staying silent now came naturally. One by one, everyone in my class was picked up by their caretakers, although none of us knew why. Honestly, we were all excited to get to leave school early. Until we learned the reason behind our early release that day. Never in my wildest dreams would my 6-year-old self have thought that, 15 years later, I would be part of a team that commemorated this day with a very special event.
In 2009, September 11 was formally designated as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Since then, 9/11 Day has grown to be the largest annual day of charitable engagement in our nation. Each year more than 30 million people throughout the nation participate in 9/11 Day through various volunteer opportunities.
Feeding Children Everywhere (FCE) is a social charity that empowers and mobilizes people to assemble healthy meals for hungry children. Since 2010, FCE has mobilized over 380,000 volunteers to assemble over 57 million meals through meal packaging events called Hunger Projects. In 2012, their domestic initiative, US Hunger, was launched. This year US Hunger got to be a part of something really special – the largest 9/11 Day of Service event ever held in New York.
On September 11, 2016, more than 2,000 New Yorkers joined forces with US Hunger and took time out of their day to spread love, positivity, and lentils. Participants gathered around 34 assembly lines with a goal of packaging 500,000 Lentil Casseroles, a dry meal made up of lentils, rice, dehydrated vegetables, and pink Himalayan salt. The atmosphere was incredible. Pure joy mixed with an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm radiated throughout Basketball City, Pier 36. Special guests, including Sophia Gennusa, Sanya Richards-Ross, and kids born on September 11, 2001, made appearances and added to the overall feeling of unity at this event. NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, even found himself rocking a hairnet and packaging some meals!
At the end of the day, the final meal count was revealed. Participants had surpassed their 500,000 meal goal…they ended up packaging 505,728 meals!
September 11, a day that was once filled with despair, is now a day dedicated to providing hope and making a difference in a significant way. The 505,728 meals that were packaged were picked up throughout the day by local New York charities including City Harvest and Catholic Charities. These meals will be distributed to at-risk children, seniors, veterans, and the homeless in the local communities. Trinity Church Wall Street and St. Paul’s Chapel served some of the Lentil Casseroles that had been packaged that day, allowing the 9/11 Day of Service participants to have an immediate impact on their own community.
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a spirit of compassion emerged. The intention of 9/11 Day is to keep the spirit alive and spread that sense of compassion, allowing people to honor the victims as well as those that rose in service in response to the attacks. It is safe to say that on the 15th anniversary of 9/11, the spirit of compassion was felt by everyone participating in the 9/11 Day of Service. Over 505,000 people were fed to commemorate this significant day, and a strong sense of togetherness will be ever-present in the community.
Read the 9/11 Day of Service live blog.
Get involved with Feeding Children Everywhere/US Hunger.
Photo credit for all images: Alvaro Martinez, Communications Associate for Feeding Children Everywhere/US Hunger.