9/11 Day Fading Memories

The National Association of RSVP Directors, Inc., with support from the 9/11Day.org will mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a series of special projects at 8 AmeriCorps Senior sites in Alabama.

 

Few events in America history were as terrifying as the 9/11 attacks. On that fateful Tuesday, much of the leadership of the AmeriCorps Senior programs were headed to Washington, DC to talk to congress about national service and to meet with programming staff at headquarters. Many were missing flights, stuck in airports and not knowing when or where the next attack may happen.

 

AmeriCorps Senior Volunteers, all over the age of 55 (mostly in their 70's) lived through the terrifying days of 9/11...not knowing what was happening but witnessed the destruction of the high-rise towers in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia and a plane crash in Pennsylvania. Young children may or may not have heard stories or seen something on the television. The purpose of this project is to have senior volunteers serving in school based tutoring programs, after school programs (like the Boys and Girls Clubs), library reading programs or other intergenerational programs share a story with the youth they serve.

 

Fading Memories for 9/11 day will focus on reading a specific grade level book designed for 9/11 educational purposes, an open-ended question and answer session that allows the volunteer to share their experiences with that day and a gift of that book to each child so they may in turn share what they learned with family and friends.

 

We live in an era of exceedingly short memories: Instagram, Tik Tok, Messenger, WhatsApp, are popular with young people precisely because they are transitory. AmeriCorps seniors, on the other hand, understand that memory is intrinsic to community. We are the people who pass on our memories to the next generation and help to ensure that they remain a part of our history.