Leverage 9/11 Day as an opportunity to bring your passion to life.
Our nation endured one of its most devastating days on September 11, 2001. Many lost their lives to the attacks, and our armed forces, emergency responders, and countless others in service sacrificed theirs to defend our nation. A year after the attacks, family members who lost their loved ones led the effort for a fitting tribute to honor their lives and those who volunteered to serve our country in response. The families’ efforts resulted in the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance with AmeriCorps charged with supporting the commemoration across the county every year.
This year, like those past, AmeriCorps invites Americans to help honor those lost and those whose lives were forever changed that day. Americans of all ages are invited to join with AmeriCorps to cross divides and let go of differences to rekindle the spirit of unity and service, just as we did more than 20 years ago.
Don’t know where to start? Follow the steps below to serve our communities and make a difference for our neighbors in need.
Draw inspiration from passion
Use your passion to lift up your community.
Whether it’s assisting veterans, tutoring students, repairing homes damaged by natural disasters, helping people get job ready, cleaning up beaches, or hosting a food drive – your options are unlimited. You also can organize your own project for 9/11 Day and serve with like-minded community members.
In fact, AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers support their own passion projects each year, too. The 911 Day Flag of Honor Across America Memorials with Global Youth Justice is one example where volunteers distribute flags with names of 9/11 victims to groups across the country to be read aloud at local events. The ceremonies take place across the nation with various programs, with AmeriCorps members and volunteers joining in.
Create a plan
Once you’ve found that perfect project or created your own, it’s time to plan out your service day.
To help plan your service activities, you might want to start with answering these questions:
- What do I wish to accomplish with this project for my community?
- Where is my project taking place and how will it impact my community members?
- How many volunteers are needed to achieve my goal?
- What do the volunteers need to know and do to lift up our community together?
Once you’ve finalized your plan, set it into action.
Meet other passionate volunteers
If you are looking to join an existing project, use the AmeriCorps Volunteer Search, powered by VolunteerMatch, to find an opportunity near you through one of these organizations: AmeriCorps, Idealist, California Volunteers, MENTOR, Volunteer.gov (National Park Service), and VolunteerMatch. Digital tools are effective ways to start your service because you can:
- search the database for volunteer opportunities and reach out to your local programs;
- publicize and gather volunteers for your project; and
- connect with people who are passionate about and committed to the same cause as you.
If you are creating your own event, be sure to register your project so people can join you in your efforts.
Make a lasting change for you and others
Now that you’ve decided how to honor 9/11 Day, be sure you recruit others to join you. Leverage AmeriCorps social press kit to find helpful tips, resources, and materials that you can use for your organization or personal channels. You can:
- use our graphics and copy to create your own social media posts;
- post our “I Will Serve” graphic and pin it to your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn profile to share that you’ll be serving and urging your network to do the same; and
- draft a blog article or an email newsletter to promote and share more details about your service project.
Your service is an important step along our journey to build more equitable and just communities that advance racial equity, create opportunity, and foster respect for individual differences through service.
You can help us spark a passion and create relationships between communities and individuals that extend past this day to inspire a lifetime of service in all Americans. Volunteerism shows us time and again that what unites us will always outshine and outlast what is trying to divide us.
Find out more about September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance at AmeriCorps.gov/911Day. Share your service on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using #911Day.
