More than 1,000 volunteers from across the city of Los Angeles gathered Friday at the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) to pack more than 400,000 meals intended for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, as part of the National Service Day and Commemoration of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The morning began with a ceremony outside the Fire Department, where a monument is placed — a large piece of steel from the Twin Towers, dedicated to the 343 firefighters who lost their lives — that attendees filled with flowers. In front of that piece, LAFD staff and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass spoke words in which they honored not only the people who lost their lives and the New York firefighters, but also the 70 members of (LAFD), and 23 people from the Critical Incident Stress Management, who went to Zone Zero after the attacks on the World Trade Center.
The ceremony included the replenishment of the “10 bells”, gaiters and a helicopter overflight.
“Your service is important and we know it has a cost; some of you still face health consequences from exposure and others load things hard to express in words,” said Jaime Moore of LAFD.
“25 years is a long time; most of the firefighters we have now were not even born when the towers collapsed. That means that those who remember it have a responsibility: we must tell the story and make the next generation understand what happened that day.”
The twin tower attacks occurred when 19 men hijacked four commercial aircraft for California airports: American Airlines Flight 11, flying from Boston to Los Angeles International Airport; United Airlines Flight 175, flying from Boston to LAX; American Airlines Flight 77, flying from Washington Dulles to LAX; and United Airlines Flight 93, flying from Newark to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Mayor Bass made sure that morning to pay tribute to the people who lost their lives on the planes that never reached Los Angeles.
“25 years later, we remember those who lost their lives on September 11 and we pay tribute to the heroes who ran toward danger to protect others,” Bass said. “We remember those who were on board the planes to Los Angeles and who never got home. And we pay tribute to the rescuers and everyday heroes who risked their lives for others.”
“The Angels will never forget you,” he added.
The 9/11 Day organization, which runs the national campaign called “Unite For Good,” which took place on Friday, had a mission from the outset: to turn the anniversary of one of the darkest days in U.S. history into a charity day.
The organization was founded by David Paine and Jay Winuk in 2002, after Winuk lost his brother, Glenn, who was a volunteer firefighter and medical emergency technician. His brother, unfortunately, died while rescuing people at the World Trade Center.
Both made that tragedy the largest annual service and charitable commemoration day in the United States. The organization’s “Unite For Good” initiative has also been supported by the public and the collaboration of several artists and celebrities, such as the comedian and actor Pete Davidson, who lost his own father that tragic day.
“I think every day we can do something good for someone else, but today, in particular, it’s important because many people died that day and also many struggled to help someone during that tragedy,” said Olivia Cervantes, of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “Today’s act is in memory of all those people; it’s our way of honouring how thousands of communities united to help those affected that day; it’s our grain of sand.”
On Friday morning, volunteers — including residents and employees of different companies, restaurants and banks — gathered in front of their tables to start packing boxes filled with nutritious foods. Some opened shelves of rice and lentils, while others separated the foods and made sure each product fits perfectly into the boxes before sealing them.
Among the group was Bryan Hernández, who came to the event with his Starbucks team. That morning he was in charge of the lenses and said that, although it wasn’t his first time doing something for his community, it was his first time participating in this September 11 event.
Hernández was just a teenager when the Twin Towers attack occurred in New York and, like many kids of that time, he vividly remembers what he was doing when he received the news.
“I remember being in summer school; at that time, at first, I don’t think many of us, the kids, understood the magnitude of what had happened,” Hernández recalls. “But our teacher explained it to us as best she could and it was very sad. What I remember most is having felt the great impact it had on the whole world; the mourning could be felt so far.”
The attacks that day, in which 3,000 people died, marked a whole generation and people like Hernández, who have marked in their memory the images they saw on television.
Another person who was among the volunteers was Joseph, who was dressed in cargo pants and a U.S. flag wig. Like Hernández, he can’t forget the unrest he felt that day; he says he had friends and cousins who were part of the New York police team. On Friday he was in charge of sealing all the boxes and placing them in the pallets that will take them to part.
“I immediately called my cousins; they weren’t there when the buildings collapsed, but they were among the first to come to help rescue people, so my first concern was my family,” he said. “I also remember how the community came together to help each other, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do here today: honor those who are no longer, but also help those who need it now.”
Around noon, the participants of the event carried almost 300,000 boxes full of food; many celebrated their great work each time they filled one more box.
“I feel good; we’re helping people who need it and I think it’s a very nice way to honor all the effort that was made that day,” said Jenifer Corola, a participant, as she packed her last box of the day.
If you could not attend any of the events in memory of September 11th, don’t worry: Saturday afternoon an event is scheduled at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Where it will pay tribute in the field to the local rescuers and their families before the American football match between UCLA and San Diego State, which will begin at 4:15 p.m. by m.
