More than 4,000 HOPE worldwide volunteers nationwide honor the legacy of 9/11 victims with service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 18, 2012 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 484-586-3615
Wayne, PA – HOPE worldwide volunteers in more than 40 sites across the nation are honoring the legacy of the September 11th victims and those who have risen in service over the last 11 years. More than 4,000 volunteers have served or will serve in projects planned throughout the month of September.
The majority of the volunteers are participating in “Protecting Our Neighbors” events that educate residents about fire safety tips as well as the value of working smoke alarms and a fire escape plan. Volunteers also are lifting the spirits of disabled veterans and homeless individuals by providing food and clothing as well as coordinating blood drives and other projects. Each service event includes special reflection and remembrance activities.
Events kicked off in Houston with more than 21,000 fans at a University of Houston football game remembering 9/11 as volunteers displayed a U.S. flag across the length of the football field. Ernest Mitchell, the U.S. Fire Administrator for the U.S. Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was on hand to represent firefighters nationwide as the fire prevention message wasbroadcast to all the fans in attendance.
Volunteers on Long Island, NY, delivered cookies and thank you posters to volunteer firefighters. Some of these veteran firefighters had previously served beside of fallen 9/11 New York Fire Department firefighters who had volunteered in their hometown fire departments on their days off. Volunteers in Harlem, NY, just miles from the heart of Ground Zero, packed 500 fire clean-up kits to pass out to residents who will experience home fires in the future. Volunteers in Colorado Springs, CO, distributed more than $30,000 worth of sleeping bags, food and clothes to homeless individuals in preparation for the coming winter months.
HOPE worldwide was chosen by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as a 2012 September 11th Day of Service and Remembrance National Grantee. Thirteen local grantees were then chosen including nine HOPE worldwide chapters and four American Red Cross chapters.
To learn more about how each HOPE worldwide Chapter served, click here.