Today, MyGoodDeed.org officially launches 911dayofservice.org, a new website supporting this year's 9/11 National Day of Service. The website incorporates a powerful and innovative tool that makes it easy for individuals to find and support charitable causes that match their interests and provides a range of actions for supporting their causes.  This “powered by MyGoodDeed” application was developed in collaboration with Guidestar, Network for Good, AllForGood, and HandsOn Network. 

As part of the new website, MyGoodDeed also unveiled their 9/11 National Day of Service education program, which includes more than 20 lesson plans on 9/11 as well as “Learn and Serve” toolkits to help schools organize age appropriate service projects.  The 9/11 Memorial contributed two sets of commemorative teaching resources that, along with supplemental materials from 4 Action Initiative, Tribute WTC Visitor Center, and Education Trust, provide constructive and comprehensive tools to teach students about the events of 9/11 and inspire classrooms and families to adopt causes and perform good deeds in observance of 9/11.  More than 10,000 classrooms are expected to utilize these materials this year.

In 2009, MyGoodDeed spearheaded the first 9/11 National Day of Service, which turned out more than 5 million people in all 50 states and 165 countries, including President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, to perform acts of service to commemorate 9/11.  This year they anticipate even more and, on September 11, 2011, hope to stage the largest single day of service and volunteering in the nation’s history in honor and commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the attacks with the goal of encouraging as many as 10 million Americans to adopt and support causes, volunteer or perform good deeds.  The 9/11 Day of Service initiative is led by the 9/11 nonprofit MyGoodDeed.org, in partnership with The Corporation for National and Community Service, HandsOn Network, and the 9/11 Memorial.

By Ryan Pawling, Coordinator of Partnershiops for the 9/11 Memorial

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.

Place message here: 9/11 Memorial construction worker John "Jay" Duddy wears a shirt created for the crews building the memorial. Working on the project is a source of great pride for the construction crews. Many place "Never Forget" stickers on their hardhats.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

More than a million people have visited the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey St. At the preview site, they've learned more about the Memorial and Museum and the people killed on 9/11. Often times, they take something with them when they leave  - a pen, a pendant or book commorating the visit.

You can find these keepsakes and others like the "Here Is New York" book online at the Preview Site's  Museum Shop. All net proceeds from sales at the preview site goes to building and sustaining the Memorial.

Here's more about the special collection of photos found in "Here is New York."

In response to the World trade Center tragedy, and to the unprecedented flood of images that resulted from it, a unique exhibition and sale of photographs was displayed in a store front in SoHo.  "Here Is New York" was not a conventional gallery show.  It was something new, a show tailored to the nature of the event, and to the response it elicited.  The exhibition was subtitled "A Democracy of Photographs" because anyone and everyone who had taken pictures relating to the tragedy was invited to submit their images to the gallery, where they were digitally scanned, printed and displayed on the walls alongside the work of top photojournalists and other photographers.  This book contains nearly a thousand of the more than five thousand pictures that some three thousand photographers submitted for the exhibition.

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.

A sight to see. A group recently huddles in Zuccotti Park near the World Trade Center, where the 9/11 Memorial is being completed. In view, looming above the city streets, is the iron skeletal structure that is to be Tower 4, a private project funded by Silverstein Properties.

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

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.

Tools of the Trade: Taking a break from the heat on a sweltering July afternoon, construction workers at the World Trade Center site rest their hardhats on a wall near the Liberty Street entrance of the highly restricted area.  The wall is not too far from the 9/11 Memorial's south pool. Tower 4, an office building privately owned by Silverstein Properties, can be seen in the distance.

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

Watch “We Remember” Today and Help Support the 9/11 Memorial in the American Express/Take Part Members Project - Production by the 9/11 Memorial Interns

Filmed at various popular locations in Manhattan’s Financial District and produced by the summer interns at the 9/11, this video features testimonials from former students who weren’t even old enough to be in college on September 11, 2001, but like so many men, women and children from around the world, the attacks and their aftermath remain forever engraved in their memories. It is through shared reflections like these that we are all reminded of our connection to that day. The progress currently taking place and all of the hard work at the World Trade Center site will benefit not only those coming to reflect on their own connection to Sept. 11, but to the generations who will not remember the event first-hand.

You can help make this meaningful tribute a reality by voting this week for the 9/11 Memorial as your choice for the American Express/Take Part Members Project. This online effort to win a $200,000 prize ends on August 22, 2010 and those funds will directly ensure the continued construction, operations, and meaningful educational work of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, an enduring tribute at the World Trade Center site where millions will come to remember for generations.

It only takes a few moments to register your email . . . and literally seconds to vote at the link below.

Please show this video and encourage your friends and family to vote. Post it to your Facebook and Twitter accounts and help us spread the word!

http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote

By the 9/11 Memorial Staff

In case you missed it. The Associated Press reported that the relatives of those killed in the World Trade Center attack will read the names of the dead with the people involved in rebuilding the trade center site as part of the ceremony for the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Reading the names of the people killed in the attacks is the focus of the annual ceremony.  According to the AP report, at first only relatives read the names, but "categories of people such as volunteers and emergency service workers were invited to participate in recent years."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who chairs the 9/11 Memorial, and Gov. David Paterson penned a joint letter to victims' families of this year's planned pairing. The letter said that "to recognize all those who are working so hard to rebuild the site, for this year's reading of the names, family members will be paired with representatives involved in its redevelopment including architects and engineers, construction workers and administrators."

The 9/11 ceremony will take place in Zuccotti Park, a few yards from the World Trade Center site.

By 9/11 Memorial staff

It's more than dirt. The mixture of gravel and nutrient-rich organic material being spread at the construction site of the 9/11 Memorial is the thoroughly-planned  foundation for more than 400 trees.

The so-called structural soil has two functions. The gravel helps create space for oxygen and water to reach tree roots, while providing enough stability to handle the plaza it will support. The organic material provides the nutrients to help the trees grow and remain healthy. Worm skin and excrement is part of the organic material combined with the gravel.

Currently, the soil is being spread on a nearly 13,000-square-foot area on the plaza, enough space to support up to 18 of the memorial trees, according to Gareth Eckmann, director of construction for the 9/11 Memorial.

The process of preparing the memorial plaza for the trees was the subject of a DNAinfo.com report written by Julie Shapiro.  The report was accompanied by a photo slideshow, where you can find more photos like the one used for this MEMO blog post. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also posted pictures of the work on its website.

The plaza will eventually hold 18,000 cubic yards of this soil, according to the report.

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

Visitors to the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site are now watching an updated version of the Project Rebirth short film. Screenings of the updated version began Wednesday at the preview site at 20 Vesey St.

The segment integrates new stunning time-lapse footage of the construction of the 9/11 Memorial and World Trade Center Tower One. The pace of construction has been frenetic over the last year and this never-before-seen footage captures the rebuilding effort from some incredible vantage points, enhancing what is already a very moving and poignant short film being offered to preview site visitors.

The short film was specifically produced by Project Rebirth for the preview site.  The piece has riveted hundreds of thousands of visitors. Read more about the documentary film project and its director Jim Whitaker here.

The preview site provides visitors with authentic artifacts, detailed architecture models, renderings and an on-site recording booth for collecting 9/11-related stories and remembrances.

The preview site, which has greeted more than 960,000 visitors, is also home to the "9/11, Today and Tomorrow" speakers series, which will continue in the fall. Among the presenters will be Jim Whitaker. More details are coming soon. Log onto The MEMO or check the 9/11 Memorial's website for updates.

By Ryan Pawling, Coordinator of Partnerships for the 9/11 Memorial

With rumbling tailpipes, a team of motorcyclists ushered a large World Trade Center beam across Florida.

Before the attacks of Sept. 11, the nearly 12-foot-long beam supported a window in the WTC's north tower for more than 30 years, according to a report written by Matt Soergel of The Florida Times-Union.

The steel was hauled by firefighters from Bradenton, Fl., to the Southern Manatee Fire and Rescue Department, where it'll be used in a monument to those who died on 9/11. The bikers, most of whom were firefighters, took shifts while accompanying the steel on its journey to its new home, the report says.

A former New York City firefighter waited for the steel beam to arrive so he could take his shift. The ex-firefighter, Dave Ellsworth, had a personal connection to the remnant steel.  On 9/11, he lost his friend, Brian Hickey, a captain in the New York City Fire Department. The two men met in 1972, when they were 18 and new volunteer firefighters on Long Island in Bethpage, NY.

"He was there with his guys, doing what he loved," Ellsworth said in the Times-Union report.

Thanks to Matt Soergel and The Florida Times-Union, see more photos of the memorial's stop in Nassau County, Fla.

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