Volunteering and September 11th

When the humidity recedes and the sky turns bright blue, the memories start to return. It was a beautiful morning here in Charlotte. I was excited to take my almost two-year-old son to his first real day of pre-school. As I drove to drop him off, I heard on the radio that a small plane had flown into the World Trade Center. When I got back home, I turned on the television and learned it was so much worse.

We all have a story like that. It is not hard to remember the anguish, the fear and the slow realization that our country would never be the same. But remembering doesn’t seem like enough… at least to me and to many others.

That’s why September 11 has been named a National Day of Service and Remembrance. In Charlotte and around the country, more than 5 million citizens will give of themselves and serve as a living memorial to those lost. To find out more, please go to http://www.911dayofservice.org/ .

Need motivation to give your time? How about the memory of firefighters and police who ran towards the burning buildings to rescue people they did not know. And remember the passengers on Flight 93, who gave their lives to save others that they did not know. What will you do?

Will you collect food, school supplies, or clothing for people in need you will never meet? Will you give blood in memory of those who gave their lives? Will you clean a park so other people’s children have a safe place to play? Will you help set up a shelter for homeless women and children?

Hands On Charlotte has lots of volunteer projects to choose from on 9/11/10. You can find out more at our Web site. But I also encourage you to create your own personal ways of honoring the memory of this day, those who were lost and the heroes that emerged. Let’s make sure that 9/11 never becomes just another day.

-Lisa Quisenberry, Consulting Executive Director, Hands On Charlotte