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).
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
A powerful winter storm hit the Northeast over the weekend leaving 100,000 New Yorkers in the dark as well as snowfall up to 30.9 inches in parts of Massachusetts. The nor'easter hit with blizzard conditions of wind speed and poor visibility.
After classic rocker Neil Young demanded removal of his music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation coming from The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the platform made the decision to take down Young's songs and continue supporting Rogan with whom they have an exclusive contract. The move touched off a firestorm of controversy, leading to responses from both the streaming service and the podcasting host. Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, joined Cheddar to break down the latest on the fracas. "I think when [Spotify] initially said, we're not going to be commenting on that, that was a silly move because guess what? They did end up commenting about it, and nine times out of 10, when an organization says they're not going to be issuing a comment, they ultimately do," Nierman noted.
The 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" has been given a very different ending in China — and this time, the authorities win. Cheddar News speaks with Joan Solsman, senior media reporter at CNET who breaks down how China is using films for political messaging.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
