So many non-profits came as a result of September 11th. The need to take the tragedy and turn it into something positive, happened over and over in the aftermath of that day. Many of the non-profits have gone by the wayside in the past twelve years, but there is one that is still going strong and that is HEART911.org
I always refer to non-profit founders as heroes but this founder is the real deal and he has the medals to prove it. His name is Bill Keegan and he was the Night Operations Commander of the World Trade Center Rescue/Recovery Teams. Bill was awarded the highest medal for the WTC 9/11 assault as well as the 1993 WTC Bombing Medal of Valor for his rescue of school children trapped in a stalled elevator; the Hanratty Medal of Valor and over fifty police duty medals.
What makes Bill a real hero, as if he wasn’t already, was his creation of the non-profit, HEART 9/11 (Healing Emergency Aid Response Team) which he founded in 2007. Heart 9/11 is a non-profit disaster response organization composed of police, fire, union construction workers, and 9/11 surviving families. Their belief is that we help ourselves by helping others. These volunteers help first responders and victims of disasters by transferring the hard-earned lessons they learned from the World Trade Center rescue/recovery mission. The Mission of HEART 9/11 is to alleviate the suffering of individuals and communities coping with disasters and related trauma, wherever it strikes in our world.
Today HEART 9/11 is over 530 members strong. These members were experienced by being victims (9/11), and as a result, understand the challenges in turning victims into survivors. HEART 9/11 continues to rebuild lives in three ways: emergency response to disaster stricken communities, facilitation of mental health and build housing for wounded returning veterans.
September 11th was a day we will never forget. The heroes and the ripples of kindness that resulted from loss, continue to inspire.
Charity Matters.
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