9/11

On September 11, 2001, I was in my senior year of college and participating in a 24-hour teeter-totter-a-thon fundraiser for a children's charity when I heard the news.  Eighteen years later, I co-chair my employer's Pro Bono Committee, and it seemed fitting to be invited by a partner law firm to join them for 9/11 Day of Service events across the country (shout out to Holland & Knight for organizing us!).

I signed up to attend the AARP's DC Meal Pack Challenge, an event in which approximately 5,000 volunteers packed 1,000,000 (!!) meals for at risk families, seniors, and veterans.  It took place on the National Mall, in a magnificent tent with a stage, music, and energy of people clamoring to make a difference.  Perhaps the most impressionable part was the length of the line of volunteers waiting to get in to take their turns.  It was as long as the eye could see; people standing in 95 degree heat to participate in a service activity.

We lined up at tables, eight to a side, and filled bags assembly-style with dry ingredients for "jambalaya."  I was manning a pink himalayan salt station, adding a teaspoon in as the first ingredient in each jambalaya bag.  One person opened and held bags under a huge funnel used for easy of marrying the ingredients in the bag.  And three people took turns adding a scoop each of dried vegetables, rice, and lentils (we didn't set the recipe!).  Each bag was carefully measured by volunteers to ensure they all weighed the same, before the bags were sealed up with a food-saver type machine, and boxed.


We were moving so efficiently, our group completed 432 bags in one hour.  I had my my right hand grabbing the completed bags and shuffling them to the bin to my right, while simultaneously dumping my scoop of salt into the next bag with my left hand.   We were so absorbed in the task at hand, that it wasn't until we were finished that I really looked around to take in the number of people volunteering at once, talking and dancing with the music.


There is a lot to absorb here, how human response in the wake of tragedy can restore one's faith in humanity once again.  It was a beautiful way to spend honoring the people who sacrificed their lives on a day that will remain etched on our hearts forever.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who suffered, and continues to suffer, under the weight of 9/11.  And I encourage you all to find a service event near you next September.