9/11 Day, the nonprofit that successfully worked to establish the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as a federally-recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance (“9/11 Day“), today launched a major new initiative in response to COVID-19, called “9/11 Day At Home.” This initiative features a new digital platform, at 911day.org, that enables millions of Americans to engage in a wide range of charitable service activities virtually, and from the safety of their homes, in observance of 9/11 Day, the nation’s largest annual day of service.
“Each year on the anniversary of 9/11, tens of millions of Americans have traditionally participated in 9/11 Day by volunteering or engaging in other in-person service activities,” said David Paine, president and co-founder of 9/11 Day. “Because of COVID-19, we recognized the need to provide creative, virtual ways for Americans to continue to transform the anniversary of 9/11 from a day of tragedy into a day of doing good, and keep the solemn promise to ‘never forget.’
“One of our goals, shared by many other 9/11 family members, is to ensure that our personal and the nation’s loss results in positive expressions of service that honor the innocent souls killed and injured on 9/11,” said Jay S. Winuk, co-founder of 9/11 Day and a 9/11 family member. “That’s much of what the 9/11 Day observance and this new resource are all about — to help generate countless acts of kindness in honor of our loved ones, one good deed at a time.”
Paine and Winuk co-founded 9/11 Day in 2002, following the loss of Jay Winuk’s brother Glenn Winuk in the 2001 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in New York City. Glenn Winuk, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight LLP, and a 20-year volunteer firefighter and EMT, died in the line of duty during the rescue efforts.
Following the 9/11 anniversary this year, the 9/11 Day website will become a permanent online resource to help people of all ages engage in charitable service digitally, to continue to harness the spirit of compassion that lives in the hearts of millions of Americans.
More than 60 nonprofits, including World Central Kitchen, United Way Worldwide, Points of Light, VolunteerMatch, Youth Service America, Feeding America, The Mission Continues, Mentor, and the Corporation for National & Community Service, the federal agency that manages AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, have partnered with 9/11 Day to develop content for or support the 9/11 Day At Home program.
Hunger Relief, Voting Access, Suicide Prevention
The 911day.org homepage prominently features 11 good deeds, focusing on critical issues facing the nation today, including COVID-19 response, supporting frontline workers, voting access, promoting diversity, suicide prevention, supporting struggling local restaurants, and other important issues. 9/11 Day plans to continue adding good deeds to the site leading up to 9/11, with the goal of presenting as many as 50 easy-to-perform good deeds that people can perform from home. 9/11 Day also has created free downloadable toolkits, lesson plans, and other resources available on the 911day.org website, for organizations, educators, families with children, and others.
The New York-based national branding firm, Wunderman Thompson, helped 9/11 Day develop the new 911day.org good deeds platform.
iHeartRadio will be promoting 9/11 Day At Home through public service messages being distributed to its nationwide network of more than 850 market-leading live broadcast stations.
World Central Kitchen Partners With 9/11 Day To Deliver Meals to First Responders
9/11 Day is also teaming up with Chef Jose Andres and World Central Kitchen to deliver at least 30,000 meals on 9/11 to first responders and healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID pandemic in up to 30 cities across the nation. These meals will be purchased primarily from minority-owned independent restaurants. Individuals can also sponsor one or more of these meals for just $10.00 each at 911day.org as one of the featured good deeds.
The Principal Financial Group Foundation has joined as a leading supporter of the program, helping to make those individual dollars go further, with a grant of $250,000 made from the Principal Financial Group Fund.
Other major contributors to 9/11 Day include the Citi Foundation, Turner Construction, Zurich Insurance, Target Corporation, Stifel, NYSE, Raytheon Technologies, RBC & City National Bank, Holland & Knight LLP, American Express Company, Wunderman Thompson, iHeartRadio, Viacom/CBS, and the Corporation for National & Community Service.
Trump, Biden Urged to Suspend Campaign Activities on 9/11/20
In keeping with a tradition 9/11 Day began in 2004, numerous leaders of the 9/11 community have sent letters to the campaign managers for President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, requesting that each voluntarily suspend political campaign activities, social media, and advertising on September 11, 2020, in favor of solemn expressions of service and remembrance. Since 2004, all major party candidates for U.S. president have complied with this request, as have many other candidates running for public office at the federal, state and local levels. 9/11 Day has posted copies of the letters sent to both campaigns on its website at 911day.org/toolkit.
“On this one day, we ask President Trump and Vice President Biden to honor those lost, and those who rose in service, by setting aside their political differences for the moment and focusing instead on the solemn nature of the day and the opportunity that they and we all have to make a difference for those in need,” Winuk said.
The 9/11 Day organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For more information visit 911day.org.
SOURCE 9/11 Day
