The final round for voting has arrived, and we need your help more than ever.

In order to realize the 9/11 Memorial's mission to honor and remember the victims of 9/11 and the 1993 attacks, we are asking you to help us secure $200,000 from the American Express Members Project.

Voting is easy:

• Step 1: Vote! Visit the Members Project site here, click “register to vote” and then vote for the 9/11 Memorial under the “Arts & Culture” category.
• Step 2: Spread the word to your family and friends through e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. Use this link: bit.ly/bN1yOF.
• Step 3: IMPORTANT! Vote each week to ensure the 9/11 Memorial receives the much-needed $200,000.

Please help us to win this crucial funding. Vote now and visit national911memorial.org to learn more. Find us on Facebook too.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

On 9/11, many people recall a day that began like any other, marked by a strikingly clear blue sky. They can vividly identify where they were or what they were doing as the attacks began to unfold.

Prior to the crash of the first plane into the North Tower, New York was bustling with activity, typical of the morning rush. Parents sent children off to school, which had just resumed after Labor Day. Many hastened to the polls to do their civic duty by voting in the city’s primary elections. Some slept in, slow to shake off the Monday Night Football game that ran late into the night. In retrospect, these quotidian activities may have played a substantial role in saving lives, as they placed many World Trade Center employees far from their workstations, delaying the early birds.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is actively acquiring materials relating to the Sept. 11  primaries as part of a larger effort to document the disruptions to notions of “normalcy” that prevailed before 8:46 a.m.. One example is a campaign button worn by supporters of Betsy Gotbaum, who was running as a Democrat for public advocate. Gotbaum was on the streets that morning, urging passerby’s to vote.  After the attacks, then-governor George Pataki declared a statewide emergency and rescheduled the elections for Sept. 25. The button recalls New York City’s focus on the hotly fought contests across the five boroughs.

Other election-related materials in the permanent collection include various brochures, pamphlets and mailers. This collection is a work in progress, and the museum’s curator would be eager to receive additional Sept. 11 primary day artifacts. All are invited to help participate in the creation of the exhibition by sharing memories, objects, photos and other materials with Museum. Donate through our website or contact the Memorial and Museum by phone, 212 312 8800.

By Jan Ramirez, Chief Curator of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum

Alexandra Drakakis, Administrative Curatorial Assistant for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum contributed.

It’s not too late to RSVP for tonight’s event at 6:30 p.m. at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site, 20 Vesey St. (Between Church Street and Broadway). Come hear three leaders who have met the challenge of service, response and relief, and crisis counseling across the country and the globe.

Jay S. Winuk is co-founder and vice president of MyGoodDeed, the nonprofit organization that led the advocacy campaign to establish 9/11 as an annually recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance, which was signed into law by President Obama in April 2009.  On Sept. 11, 2001, Jay lost his younger brother Glenn J. Winuk, an attorney and volunteer firefighter, who was killed in the line of duty when the South Tower collapsed.  Millions of people from all 50 states and countries all over the world now mark Sept. 11 to serve people and communities in need. Also attending will be Bill Keegan of H.E.A.R.T. 911 and a member of the New York Says Thank You Foundation.

Before the evening begins, the audience will hear some remarks from Diahann Billings-Burford, the city’s chief service officer for NYC Service.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Staff photographer Amy Dreher snaps a lot of pictures at the World Trade Center site, documenting the construction progress of the 9/11 Memorial. Amy also trains her lens on the smaller pieces that may be overlooked with a project of this magnitude. Through “The Lens: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial,” readers of The MEMO blog can share some of the unique vantage points captured by Amy.

Proud card carrier: Bay Crane Operator Andrew "Andy" Calise holds up his 9/11 Memorial Preview Site discount card, and his old memorial glade cobblestone card. Because of Andy's donations to the 9/11 Memorial through the cobblestone campaign, he received the discount card.  It's great to know that the people helping to build the Memorial and Museum are also donors.

By Amy Dreher, Staff Photographer for the 9/11 Memorial

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Above: Veteran news anchor Shepard Smith introduces the latest installment of the Fox News series “The Rise of Freedom," which features 9/11 Memorial architect Michael Arad.  In the broadcast, Arad discusses the signature 9/11 Memorial pools, which feature 30-foot waterfalls.  

Arad, a partner of Handel Architects, was working as an architect for the New York City Housing Authority when he entered and won the 9/11 Memorial design competition.

His design for the memorial, which is called “Reflecting Absence,” was picked by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in early 2004. Two years after winning the design contest, Arad was one of six recipients of the American Institute of Architect’s Young Architects Award.

The award honors architects license ten years or less and have shown “exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession early in their careers.”

Updated: Read more about Arad in a recent article in the Downtown Express weekly.

By the 9/11 Memorial Staff

Good Day NY interviews Ralph Gardner, a Wall Street Journal columnist, about his trip hangar 17 at JKF International Airport.  World Trade Center remnant steel, crushed emergency vehicles and other artifacts recovered from ground zero have been housed there since 2001. Some of the artifacts will be part of exhibits at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  

Read Ralph's column, Urban Gardener, browse the Hangar photos from the WSJ article.  The steel beams have been sent across the country for use in local memorials. A batch of steel was relocated  to New Jersey in October.

By Norm Dannen, Public Affairs Associate 

The 9/11 Memorial is opening on Sept. 11, 2011.

Help the 9/11 Memorial and Museum by sharing the unique gift of being part of history.  This holiday, sponsor a cobblestone on the plaza of the 9/11 Memorial on behalf of family, friends and colleagues and help pave the way to the memorial opening on the 10th anniversary. 

Cobblestones will line the paths of the 9/11 Memorial Plaza at the World Trade Center site – eight beautiful landscaped acres that will include two massive reflecting pools and more than 400 oak trees. 

Cobblestones can be sponsored for $100 (plaza cobblestones) or $500 (glade cobblestones, which are located in a beautiful clearing that will be used for special ceremonies and gatherings).

Out of respect for the victims of the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 attacks, cobblestones will not be inscribed with donor names. Electronic kiosks will be located on the plaza so donors can locate sponsored cobblestone.

Place your order by December 21st to receive your special holiday gift card.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Staff photographer Amy Dreher snaps a lot of pictures at the World Trade Center site, documenting the construction progress of the 9/11 Memorial. Amy also trains her lens on the smaller pieces that may be overlooked with a project of this magnitude. Through “The Lens: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial,” readers of The MEMO blog can share some of the unique vantage points captured by Amy.

Jigsaw: Piece by piece, workers are installing precut granite panels inside the south pool of the 9/11 Memorial. The memorial has two pool, roughly an acre each, that feature 30-foot waterfalls and are set within the original footprints of the World Trade Center's two towers. Each granite panel weighs about 420 pounds and each pool will have nearly 4,000 of these granite panels once the work is complete. Often times, heavy equipment like these two "cherry pickers" pictured here are needed for this ongoing work.

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the 9/11 Memorial

Watch the full episode. See more Thirteen Forum.

9/11 Memorial architect Michael Arad detailed what inspired him to design a national tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the World Trade Center terror attacks in 2001 and 1993 as part of the “9/11, Today and Tomorrow” speakers series. Arad shared early designs of the memorial in a the speakers series event on Nov. 10.  

The above video and others are courtesy of  WNET.ORG’s Thirteen Forum.  

Arad, a partner of Handel Architects, was working as an architect for the New York City Housing Authority when he entered and won the 9/11 Memorial design competition.

His design for the memorial, which is called “Reflecting Absence,”was picked by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in early 2004. Two years after winning the design contest, Arad was one of six recipients of the American Institute of Architect’s Young Architects Award.

 RSVP  for the next event in the series on Dec. 8, which will explore 9/11 and the spirit of volunteerism.

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the 9/11 Memorial

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Staff photographer Amy Dreher snaps a lot of pictures at the World Trade Center site, documenting the construction progress of the 9/11 Memorial. Amy also trains her lens on the smaller pieces that may be overlooked with a project of this magnitude. Through “The Lens: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial,” readers of The MEMO blog can share some of the unique vantage points captured by Amy.

Green in spring, golden brown for fall: Photographer Amy Dreher snaps a picture of a few of the trees that have been planted at the World Trade Center site since late August. All told, the plaza of the 9/11 Memorial will feature more than 400 of these trees, creating a vibrant green space and a pictuersque vision of fall.

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the 9/11 Memorial