9/11 National Day of Service Organizers Launch Innovative Programs for 2010 with Eye Toward 10th Anniversary of 9/11 in 2011

Influential Organizations Team Up to Support Federal Observance Established in 2009

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A powerful coalition representing the 9/11 community, the federal government, and the nonprofit sector today announced a comprehensive program to promote widespread participation this year on the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.  The September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance was formally established under federal law in 2009 with strong bi-partisan support from the U.S. Congress, the endorsement of the 9/11 community, and the backing of President Barack Obama.

During an online press conference attended by a large group of reporters and bloggers, leaders from the 9/11 nonprofit MyGoodDeed, the 9/11 Memorial, HandsOn Network and the Corporation for National and Community Service unveiled a number of new programs to inspire people to get involved in the 9/11 observance this year, and set the stage for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in 2011, when the group plans to organize the single largest expression of charitable service in U.S. history.

Among the new resources announced for this year:

• A new and highly innovative website (911dayofservice.org) that helps individuals quickly connect with and support charitable causes, as well as post their personal good deeds.
• A new logo mark, developed by the award-winning Landor & Associates design firm, that will become the official identity for the 9/11 National Day of Service.
• A first-ever comprehensive 9/11 education resource that includes 18 different lesson plans and supporting elements to help teachers instruct students in age appropriate and constructive ways about the events of 9/11, and inspire them to pay tribute voluntarily  through charitable service and good deeds.  To date, nearly 4,000 teachers around the nation have pre-registered to receive these new materials, available online at no cost at 911dayofservice.org and scholastic.com/911dayofservice.  Additionally, more than 30,000 printed posters, which provide abbreviated lesson plans, have been distributed to middle schools across the nation.
• Television and radio public service advertisements, featuring actors Gary Sinise and Denis Leary, which will be aired nationwide this year for the first time thanks to the support of the National Association of Broadcasters, Clear Channel, many of the major networks and cable channels.
• Online banner ads promoting participation in the 9/11 National Day of Service, which will begin appearing this week on AOL's website and affiliated online channels, reaching an estimated millions of people over the next three weeks.
• Community service projects for 9/11, which the organizers will oversee directly, in six major cities this year including New York, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.
• Outreach to more than 50,000 nonprofits, employers and faith-based organizations.

Funding, totaling over $1,000,000, has come primarily from private contributions by major corporations and foundations, including GlaxoSmithKline, Target Corporation, the PIMCO Foundation, and the Jim Fassel Foundation.  

"We expect a terrific response to this year's 9/11 National Day of Service," said David Paine, president and co-founder of MyGoodDeed, which led the eight-year effort on behalf of the 9/11 community to establish September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.  

"Even nine years later, no other day has the power of 9/11 to inspire people to step forward to help others, and we see interest in this observance growing significantly throughout the nation," added MyGoodDeed vice president and co-founder Jay S. Winuk, who lost his brother Glenn Winuk in the 9/11 attacks.  

"Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network have been longstanding advocates for making 9/11 a National Day of Service, and we share MyGoodDeed's belief that inspiring Americans to engage in service is a wonderful way to pay tribute on 9/11," said Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and co-founder of HandsOn Network.  "We mobilize people nationwide to transform their communities, and there is no better time to do so than on this momentous National Day of Service."

"This a wonderful example of the kind of dynamic and collaborative private-public partnerships that are possible in promoting national service in America," said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the nation's Days of Service and national service programs. "The 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance gives the nation an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable spirit of unity and compassion that swept across the nation in the wake of the tragedy. With the help of our partners, we hope to galvanize thousands to rekindle that spirit to help meet the challenges we face today." Besides the 911dayofservice.org website, individuals can find volunteer opportunities for 9/11, as well as throughout the year, at Serve.gov.

The 9/11 National Day of Service initiative is led by a coalition of organizations that includes MyGoodDeed, the Corporation for National and Community Service (Serve.gov), HandsOn Network (handsonnetwork.org), and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum (national911memorial.org) in New York.  Grant funding and significant in-kind support for the 9/11 National Day of Service in 2010 has been provided by GlaxoSmithKline, Target Corporation, the Corporation for National and Community Service, The Jim Fassel Foundation, The PIMCO Foundation, Clear Channel, Scholastic Inc., and Landor Associates.  

About MyGoodDeed:

MyGoodDeed Inc. (www.911dayofservice.org ) is a national nonprofit organization that led the successful eight-year effort, culminating in 2009, to establish September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.  Today MyGoodDeed oversees on behalf of the 9/11 community this historic observance, working with many organizations to build public participation and support.  The overall mission of the group is to honor the victims of 9/11 and those who rose to service in response to the attacks by encouraging all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed, or another service activity, on 9/11 each year. In this way the organization is helping to create a lasting and forward-looking legacy -- annually rekindling the spirit of service, tolerance and compassion that unified America and the world in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.  More than one million people from all 50 states and more than 165 nations participate annually in service activities in observance of 9/11.

About HandsOn Network:

HandsOn Network, the volunteer-focused arm of Points of Light Institute, is the largest volunteer network in the nation and includes more than 250 HandsOn Action Centers in 16 countries.  HandsOn includes a powerful network of more than 70,000 corporate, faith and nonprofit organizations that are answering the call to serve and creating meaningful change in their communities.  Annually, the network delivers approximately 30 million hours of volunteer service valued at about $626 million. For more information, please visit www.HandsOnNetwork.org.

About the Corporation for National and Community Service:

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.

About the National September 11 Memorial & Museum:

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is a nonprofit created to oversee the design, funding, programming and operation of the Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center

site.  The Memorial and Museum will be located on eight of the 16 acres of the site. The Memorial will remember and honor the nearly 3,000 people who died in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993, and September 11, 2001.  The design, created by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, consists of two pools formed in the footprints of the original Twin Towers and a plaza of trees.  

The Museum will display monumental artifacts linked to the events of September 11, while presenting intimate stories of loss, compassion, reckoning and recovery that are central to telling the story of the 2001 attacks and the aftermath.  It will communicate key messages that embrace both the specificity and the universal implications of the events of 9/11; document the impact of those events on individual lives, as well as on local, national, and international communities; and explore the continuing significance of these events for our global community. To learn more, visit www.national911memorial.org.

For more general information, visit 911dayofservice.org.  Follow the 9/11 National Day of Service on Twitter at twitter.com/911dayofservice, and on Facebook at facebook.com/911nationaldayofservice.

SOURCE 9/11 National Day of Service