On Sept. 11, the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, 719 Jacksonville-area volunteers packed 340,992 meals for the needy.
The event was part of the 9/11 Day national nonprofit's initiative to turn each anniversary into "America’s largest day of unity and service."
This year, 50,000 volunteers in 50 cities packed at least 17 million meals in one day for struggling individuals and families.
"You don't have to run into a burning building to be heroic in your community or in the lives of others," said Jay Winuk, 9/11 Day's executive vice president and co-founder. His brother Glenn Winuk , an attorney and volunteer firefighter/EMT, died responding to the attacks on New York City's World Trade Center.
David Paine, president and co-founder
of 9/11 Day, said the nonprofit hoped to "transform the 9/11 anniversary … into an annual moment of national reflection, unity and doing good. We want to reclaim the day."
The meals packed at the University of North Florida Arena were donated to Feeding Northeast Florida, the Jacksonville-based regional food bank.
Beth Reese Cravey has been a reporter for The Florida Times-Union for 45 years, currently specializing in nonprofits and health. She can be reached at bcravey@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 719 volunteers, 340,992 meals reclaim the day for 9/11 anniversary
