‘Do good for others’: Volunteers across Utah remember 9/11 through service

CENTERVILLE — Children and teens worked their way through the Centerville Cemetery and Island View Park, weeding, raking, hauling out trash and beautifying the area, just one of many community projects across the state Saturday.

The National Day of Service and Remembrance, which takes place on the the anniversary of the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was established by the Legislature in April 2009, commonly observed in communities across the nation with acts of service.

Many of the young volunteers excitedly, and sometimes not so excitedly, got their hands dirty, while taking breaks at the nearby playground. A majority of them had not been born when the World Trade Center towers fell, and the day of service and remembrance is an attempt to bridge that gap, teaching a new generation about sacrifice, according to the parents working alongside their children.

The efforts are connected with the National Day of Service, which takes place every Sept. 11, where communities across the country do good deeds while remembering the tragic events of 2001.

The service event was held in collaboration with interfaith, volunteer, and community groups.

‘This is a tradition’

“By now, this is a tradition,” said Mitch Lamb, another organizer for the stake. “Every year we commemorate with doing service,” since before he can remember.

Schools, churches and community groups have organized many events for Saturday.

The Church of Jesus Christ was also hosting a suicide prevention walk and assembly of school kits for Jordan School District at Veterans Memorial Park in West Jordan on Saturday. In Heber City, church members are cleaning up the World War II Airport Museum, making sleeping mats for people experiencing homelessness and fleece blankets for the women’s correctional facility.

Snow College has put together a group effort to help with flooding repairs in Fountain Green, after a massive thunderstorm Aug. 18 left roughly half the homes in town damaged, according to the school’s chief of staff Marci Larsen.

In Salt Lake City, Granite School District has recruited over 300 volunteers to build over 6,000 student weekend food kits, 2,000 hygiene kits, and 6,000 snack kits to meet the needs of local families, while collecting school supplies in their back-to-school drive. Almost half of the students in the district, over 27,000, qualified for the free or reduced- lunch program last school year, according to the district.

“We have the opportunity to not only remember those that lost their lives but also use it as an opportunity to do something good in the community,” Cosper said.

Upcoming opportunities

• The Granite School District will be holding another food kit assembly event on Sept. 11.
• In Washington, volunteers are planning to clean out the historic irrigation waterway along 100 East on Sept. 11.
• Volunteers are planning on planting 600 pollinator friendly plants at Willard Bay State Park on Sept. 14.
• The Kaysville West stake is collecting laundry detergent and diapers for refugees until Sept. 14.
• Community members will be cleaning Olympus Hills Park in Salt Lake City on Sept. 14.
• Ascent Academy in Farmington is hosting a “pantry pack” assembly event Sept. 14.
• Volunteers are needed for a mental health and craft fair in Sunset, Sept. 14.
• In Sandy, volunteers will be tying quilts for Ukrainian refugees, among other activities, at Hidden Valley Park Pavilion Sept. 14.
• American Fork organizers need help making blankets for children in Mexican orphanages Sept. 14.
• The La Verkin stake is accepting donations and hosting a car wash for first responders in the Hurricane Valley area, in Washington County, Sept. 21.

Many more volunteer events happening this week can be found at JustServe.org.