Youth Service America: 9/11 Day of Service, Work Together to Help Communities Thrive

Posted by Youth Service America on June 21, 2022

Honoring this moment in our nation’s history by serving in your community helps transform 9/11 into a day of unity, empathy, and service as an enduring and positive tribute to those lost and injured on 9/11, and the many who rose in service in response to the attacks, including first responders, recovery workers, volunteers and members of our military.

As you choose how you will participate in this year’s 9/11 Day of Service, plan to work together to help communities thrive by leading ASAP (through Awareness, Service, Advocacy, and Philanthropy) to achieve the Global Goals.

Here are 3 ways to get started:

1. Use this tipsheet and watch this video to choose a Lead ASAP project.

2. These resources in the YSA Knowledge Center have many project ideas, examples, and how-to guides.

• Youth Guide to the Global Goals
• Sparks Tipsheets: Lead an Arts Project, Lead a Sports Project, Lead a Reading Project, and Lead a Nature Project
• Everyday Young Heroes Project Replication Guide Collection
• Issue-Specific Guides: Engaging a New Generation of Anti-Hunger Leaders (Childhood Hunger), We Stand Strong (Disaster Preparedness), Youth in the Driver Seat (Teen Driver Safety), and Health Heroes (Childhood Obesity).
• 8 Ways to Stop Hunger
• 55 Environment Project Ideas for Earth Day & Beyond

3. Honor. Serve. Unite. (Scroll down and click on Honor.Serve.Unite: 9/11 Day of Service Ideas & Planning Tools)

• Serve to Remember: We are increasingly challenged to explain the significance of the events of September 11, 2001 to America’s young people since none of them have any first-hand memory of the time. We suggest starting with ten reflections about 9/11/01 and related ideas for service or service-learning projects.
• We encourage people to plan projects that benefit veterans and military families. Download teacher and student activity sheets to help you plan a project. We suggest you contact your local Veterans Affairs Volunteer Service office or local military base’s Family Resource Center / Family Assistance Center office to identify needs of local veterans and military families.
• Help your community be prepared to stand strong during disasters by organizing disaster preparedness awareness events (Prep Rallies) and community service projects (Prep Projects) on 9/11 Day. Use YSA’s free We Stand Strong Toolkit and We Stand Strong Training Videos to help you plan.
• Find additional ideas and resources from our partners.