9/11 National Day of Service Tomorrow

For eight years, the non-profit organization My Good Deed — a group co-founded by Jay Winuk, who lost his brother Glenn Winuk, a volunteer firefighter, during the September 11th attacks — has petitioned the federal government to declare September 11th a national community service day to honor the lives of those who died in a positive and constructive way.

Jay Winuk has said of the initiative, "As a 9/11 family member, I cannot think of a more inspiring, appropriate and constructive tribute to my late brother and all those who perished, were injured or rose in service — to rekindle at least for one day each year the remarkable spirit of compassion and service that unified our country."

In April, Winuk finally got his wish, when President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which officially declared September 11th a National Day of Remembrance and Service.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who helped draft the provision of the act that proclaimed the national service day, explained, "September 11 should not only be a day for mourning — it should be a day to think about our neighbors, our community and our country. We can take a tragic day in our nation's history and turn it into a force for good."

President Obama issued a proclamation today urging Americans to participate:

Our democracy is strengthened when we uphold the freedoms upon which our Nation was built: equality, justice, liberty, and democracy. These values exemplify the patriotism and sacrifice we commemorate today.

In that same spirit of patriotism, I call upon all Americans to join in service and honor the lives we lost, the heroes who responded in our hour of need, and the brave men and women in uniform who continue to protect our country at home and abroad.

If you would like participate in a volunteer activity tomorrow to honor the lives of those lost on September 11th, 2001, and the service of the brave firefighters, police officers and EMTs who ran toward danger that day, you can find a National Day of Remembrance and Service event near you at Serve.gov or 911dayofservice.org. And if you have a great volunteer project planned for tomorrow, please tell us about it in the comments!

Comments

[Timotheus]

This is kind of like taking Martin Luther King Day and replacing it with Eddie Murphy Day.