ARC/GNY Staff Provides Support at September 11
Anniversary Commemorative Events

To assist the City of New York with its September 11 commemorative events, nearly 250 American Red Cross in Greater New York volunteers supported family members who lost loved ones in the terror attacks, rescue workers, uniformed personnel and the general public.

One hundred trained Red Cross mental health and spiritual care professionals helped people deal with the emotions of the day. In addition, the Red Cross partnered with Project Liberty to provide additional mental health professionals. The Red Cross also participated in the all-agency honor guard made up of City, State, Federal and nonprofit agencies.
 

A Red Cross Employee’s Experience Volunteering
at the Commemoration

By Carly M. Blatt
American Red Cross in Greater New York Staff Writer

Like many Red Cross staff members who work behind the scenes, I rarely have the chance to see first hand exactly how what we do affects people.  My experience volunteering at the two-year anniversary ceremonies at Ground Zero on September 11, 2003, helped me better understand the effect our work has on our community.

I woke up early to meet the other Red Cross volunteers at the former World Trade Center site at 5 a.m. The sky was still an eerie black and the day already seemed slightly surreal.  My group went down to our base at the lower level of the site, where our job was to distribute water and packets of tissue to the families of those who’d lost loved ones in the attacks.

Before the families came down to the lower level, we distributed dozens of bottles of water to members of the honor guard.  Police officers, firefighters, representatives from numerous city agencies and other members of the honor guard thanked us for the help we’d given to people affected by the attacks.   

Shortly after 8 a.m., children who’d lost family members in the attacks began to read the names of the people who died in the tragedy.  As they read the names, my heart went out to them – especially since each one would end their section with a comment like “and my Dad, James, I miss you and I love you” or “and my mom, Marcy, who truly is an angel.”  I admired them so much for their strength and bravery on such a difficult day.

As the names were read, the families descended to the site’s lower level.  Family members placed flowers on two wooden “beds” that had been placed in the center of a sectioned-off area. Many wrote personal messages on the side of the wood and several put flowers in their empty water bottles, creating a makeshift vase.  A number collected rocks from the site and put them in water bottles, since for many, that represented all they would have of their loved ones.  A few people even created grave sites on their own by writing out names in rocks or flower petals. 

A number of people held up pictures of their loved ones – some had notes on the pictures like “my brother...age 26”. Others had shirts featuring a photograph.  Several wore pins.  Some mothers held pictures of their child up high, while others clutched pictures tightly to their chests.  A number of families dressed alike.  Some kids wore suits; others sported clothing they might normally wear to a playground.  Small groups of people sat down on the ground, perhaps feeling that doing so might bring them closer to their loved ones.  A few people came down there alone - I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been.

One scene that touched me the most was a family of three - two boys and a mother - that had obviously been a family of four two years and a day earlier.  Two young boys - probably around eight and ten - wrote messages to their father on the wood.  The older boy looked like he was bravely trying to choke back tears.  The younger boy didn’t seem to know how to act and kept touching the wood, seemingly longing for a sense of closeness.  After a minute, they went back to their mother and she hugged them both, as all three of them sobbed softly.  I wondered what their father had looked like - had the two blond boys gotten their light hair from him? How old were they when he died? To this day, could they fully understand how senseless and horrible it all was?

Throughout the day, I kept wishing there was something more that I could have done to help. And then I realized that what we were doing was important.  If the packet of tissue or cold bottle of water that Red Cross volunteers gave to them made the difficult day even a little easier, then we provided a valuable service.  And it’s not about the tissue or the water per se, but the overall sense of support that we can give to them by letting them know that the Red Cross is there. 

I went home late that afternoon slightly sunburned, covered in a thin layer of dust, and mildly exhausted from lifting cases of water.  It was one of the best experiences I’d had working at the Red Cross.

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