Charity Turns 9/11 Anniversary Into Day of Service, Not Sadness
*By Conor White*
For most, September 11 is a day of reflection and remembrance to honor those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks 17 years ago.
Jay Winuk is one such observer; he lost his brother Glen, a 20-year volunteer firefighter, after he rushed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan to help those inside.
One year after the attacks, Winuk co-founded 9/11 Day, now federally-recognized, to remember his brother and the nearly 3,000 others whose lives abruptly ended in 2001.
"Glen and so many others really sacrificed a lot," Winuk said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar. "But if we can make the world a little bit better for those in need each 9/11, that'd be a pretty good way to remember the day."
9/11 Day encourages people to volunteer, support charities, and perform simple good deeds. After starting out as a grassroots movement, Tuesday's event will see nearly 30 million people participate across the country.
"We hope this becomes ubiquitous," Winuk said. "\[September 11th is\] not a holiday, it's an observance."
In New York alone, 850,000 meals will be assembled for hungry residents. Meals will also be packed for the hungry in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
9/11 Day and the non-profit behind it, MyGoodDeed, also provides teachers and students with learning materials about September 11th to teach them about the good carried out by responders.
"All of us who lived through 9/11, at some point, we're not going to be here, so we wanted to establish an observance where people have the opportunity to learn the other side of 9/11," Winuk said.
"If they learn only about the attacks and not how good people of the world responded, then we've lost an opportunity."
For more information, visit [911Day.org](https://www.911day.org/).
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/finding-light-on-the-darkest-day).
This episode of On The Job presented by ADP: Cheddar takes a deep dive into how offices in Silicon Valley are handling return-to-office policies with Jesse Levinson, Cofounder and CTO of Zoox; Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer at ADP breaks down the importance of flexibility at work and how to approach compensation in order to improve retention; Pamela Rucker, CIO Advisor and Instructor for Harvard Professional Development, explains how A.I. can play a role in sustainability efforts and what business leaders need to know about ESG.
Jeremy Kim and Wootak Kim, content creators and the stars of the ‘Under the Influence’ podcast and YouTube series, joined Cheddar News to talk about using their platform to help other Asian American creators. "When we were kind of like coming up with the show idea, there's like so many other people that we really respect or look up to or that interesting stories that will never get the chance to be seen by anybody else," said Jeremy Kim. "And so that's the kind of the platform that we wanted to create."
Chantel Powell, Co-Founder and CEO of Play Pits, joins Cheddar News to discuss how she's grown her business from making it in her very own home to being sold on the shelves in Target stores across the nation, and break down how her business remained resilient throughout the pandemic.
Coming off of their face masks endeavor, Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City," and her daughter Ally Shapiro, CMO of JIll & Ally, join Cheddar News to discuss their latest product: crystal manifestation candles. "We have tigers eye, we have amethyst, we have lapis, and alone those could be almost the price of the candle," said Zarin. "We were really able to do it in an affordable way, and if you don't know how to manifest or what that even means, we do it for you on the candle." Zarin also dished on the new season of "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip."
Catching you up on the entertainment headlines of the day with the new "Thor: Love and Thunder" trailer, Tom Cruise saying that he sees every movie that's in theaters, Lucasfilm warning Black actor Moses Ingram starring in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" about a potential racist backlash, and more.
Liana Guzmán, CEO of FOLX Health, joins Cheddar News to discuss the company launching billboards across the country in response to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
