Spirit of 9/11 Unites Campus for Day of Service, Remembrance
Faculty, staff and student volunteers from Montclair State University lend helping hands to nonprofits, community partners
Posted in: Homepage News, Uncategorized, University
![A student bends down to unpack cans in a crowded warehouse.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_02409_911-Day-of-Service-CFBNJ.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
On the National Day of Service and Remembrance, Montclair State University volunteers observed the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by supporting community partners, including helping to build homes, feed the hungry and organize donations. A campus-wide donation drive contributed school supplies for students at Eastside High School in Paterson.
The efforts of nearly 400 students, faculty and staff on Saturday, September 9 rekindled the spirit of unity that arose in America in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
“Service acts as a uniting force that allows us to remember, yes the sadness of the day, but also the ways we are capable of coming together and helping each other,” says Krystal Woolston, assistant director of the Center for Community Engagement, which sponsors the event to allow students to serve in a meaningful way. “I hope that’s the lesson students leave with each year.”
Before heading out to about 30 different nonprofit organizations and community partners, students heard from Bill Spade, a retired New York City firefighter, and Jim Fraser, a naval officer who served at the Pentagon. Despite the 22 years that have elapsed, the Day of Service evokes the spirit of togetherness that followed the attacks, they said.
“I think students learn from the event every year, which is valuable because so many of our young students weren’t alive during that time period,” Woolston said.
![A student sings into a microphone.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0154_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
As in years past, students volunteered both on and off campus, spreading out across the region. Among the volunteers were students from the Bonner Leaders, NextGen, AmeriCorps, Montclair’s sororities and fraternities, and faculty and staff, many who brought their families to work alongside them.
At the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside, Keiva-Nevaeh Edghill, a senior majoring in Biology with a minor in Leadership Development through Civic Engagement, said her group helped pack 315 boxes with various food items. “It was an amazing experience,” she said. “I’ve been at the food bank previously, but knowing that I made some type of impact in people’s lives when they receive these packages is why I continue to go back.”
![Two students tape boxes.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_02255_911-Day-of-Service-CFBNJ.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A woman stands on stage in front of a drawing of the World Trade Center twin towers.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0144_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA-1.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A college mascot, a giant red hawk, gives a student a black bag with the words “Day of Service” on it.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0131_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA_Original.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A student packs a box with canned goods.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_01591_911-Day-of-Service-CFBNJ.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A student and the college president unpack boxes.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0215_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A young woman smiles as she packs a box of supplies.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_01863_911-Day-of-Service-CFBNJ.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![President Jonathan Koppell talks to a staff person standing behind a kitchen counter.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0225_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A student carries a box of fruit.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_00527_911-Day-of-Service-St-Josephs-SSC.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![Students give a family a bag of food.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_00371_911-Day-of-Service-St-Josephs-SSC.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![Two people carry a large piece of drywall material at a construction site.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0327_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A young man stands inside a door at a construction site.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_0336_Day_of_Service_Koppell-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A large group of students work in a warehouse.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/090923_02404_911-Day-of-Service-CFBNJ.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren. Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters and John J. LaRosa
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