MLB Together, 9/11 Day volunteers honor fallen during National Day of Service

Sept. 11 is marked as a National Day of Service in honor of the victims and all those who lost their lives in the tragic attacks against New York City and the rest of the country 24 years ago.

In remembrance of that day, Major League Baseball and its MLB Together platform have renewed their partnership with the non-profit organization 9/11 Day and invited more than 100 employees to volunteer in two meal-packing sessions aboard the Intrepid Museum.

Also included in the large crowd of volunteers were hundreds of fellow civic-minded corporate employees from companies such as JPMorganChase and Pfizer, all working together to pack hundreds of thousands of meals for families in need. The group packed more than 200,000 meals in a single two-hour session.

“It's 9/11, and Major League Baseball has the privilege to partner with 9/11 Day and their National Day of Service,” said April Brown, MLB’s senior vice president of social responsibility.

“We have employees volunteering all day today, packing meals for the underserved and for the food insecure, and it's a way for us to take that pain of the day and have purpose, and to show that we care about others.”

Brown and the rest of the Major League Baseball community are aware of the magnitude and responsibility of an event like this and what it represents for the communities impacted by the tragedy of that day.

“It's one of our pillars. To give back, number one, but also to never forget this day,” Brown said. “24 years ago, baseball was part of the healing and the recovery afterward.”

According to information provided by 9/11 Day, more than 30,000 volunteers nationwide are projected to pack 9 million meals for people and families facing food insecurity, with more than 6,500 volunteers in New York City alone packing 2 million of those meals. The meals are donated to and distributed by City Harvest and Food Bank for New York City.

MLB veteran pitcher and four-time All-Star Dellin Betances, who is part of the MLB Commissioner’s Ambassador Program, also returned for his third year as a volunteer.

“For me, [it] brings back memories of where I was at the time, but a day like today and what they're doing on the Intrepid, being able to provide for the community, I think that's what it's all about,” Betances said.

Betances played for both hometown teams as a Met and a Yankee. He is also a native New Yorker, who, like so many others who call the Big Apple home, will never forget the tragedy of that day and the importance of honoring all its victims.

“You turn the day of remembrance into an act of good," he said, "and that's what we're doing here: Providing for people that are in need and packing as many meals as we can to provide to the communities in need."

One of the cofounders of the 9/11 Day organization, Jay Winuk, has a deeply personal connection to the event and the day. Winuk lost his brother, Glenn, in the attacks and found this nonprofit in his memory. Glenn was a volunteer firefighter and an EMT specially trained in building collapse rescue. He ran into the World Trade Center's South Tower to save lives, tragically losing his when it collapsed.

“The work that we do here for 9/11 Day is in part in honor of Glenn, but it's really in honor of all of those who were directly affected, those who lost their lives, those who were injured [and] those who were sick as a result of exposure downtown at Ground Zero,” Winuk said.

Winuk understands the importance of partnership from companies and organizations like MLB, which provide resources to properly give remembrance and honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

“The support of organizations like MLB -- which is one of our most loyal sponsors -- it's so meaningful,” Winuk said. “And it's so meaningful to the other volunteers to know that MLB is participating and jumping in with both feet.”

The day of service continues on Sept. 12th, when the Food Bank for New York and City Harvest will begin distributing the packed meals to the communities and families across the city who need it the most.