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Friday, March 29, 2024
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UB students remember 9/11 by packing lunches for the City of Buffalo

Students prepare sandwiches for the Buffalo City Mission in 2013. For the past three years, the Center for Student Leadership & Community Engagement has hosted a 9/11 service day. Chad Cooper, The Spectrum
Students prepare sandwiches for the Buffalo City Mission in 2013. For the past three years, the Center for Student Leadership & Community Engagement has hosted a 9/11 service day. Chad Cooper, The Spectrum

Among the moments of silences dedicated to the tragedy of 9/11, UB students gave back to the community as a part of the National 9/11 Day of Service.

For the past three years, the Center for Student Leadership & Community Engagement (CSLCE) has hosted a 9/11 service day. On Thursday afternoon, members of the engagement center and student volunteers made more than 200 sandwiches in the Student Union. The sandwiches were donated to the Buffalo City Mission, a Christian-based organization that helps homeless Buffalonians.

“We’re giving back because it’s a day of service [and] because the police and firefighters gave to us,” said Elijah Polanco, a sophomore environmental engineering major.

On Sept. 11, 2001, members of Al-Qaeda crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center complex in New York City. A third crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth in a field in Washington, D.C.

Thirteen years later, students are memorializing the horrific event through local community service.

“They’re one of the organizations that makes the biggest impact in Buffalo,” said Rachel DiDomizio, the community engagement coordinator at CSLCE.

The number of participants doubled this year from 12 to 24. They made ham and turkey sandwiches and packed chips and apples.

DiDomizio believed the increase in participants is because the event took place during a common lunchtime for students. This made it easier for students to stop and volunteer for the event.

Many of the club’s service events take place off-campus in the University Heights, so the opportunity to have a community service event readily available to students helped increase participation.

“A lot of volunteer opportunities are off campus,” DiDomizio said. “And because of scheduling, we like to offer on-campus opportunities just to catch those students who have five minutes to spare.”

Videos of 9/11 day of service events from other Buffalo communities and footage of the memorial service at Ground Zero played as students made and packed sandwiches.

“We showed videos to give students something to look at and something to reflect upon,” DiDomizo said.

CSLCE wasn’t the only club memorializing 9/11 in the Student Union. Clubs like UB Republicans and UB Conservatives also had booths and service opportunities in honor of 9/11, giving students the ability to remember where they were during 9/11.

“I remember sitting in my second grade classroom,” said Kristina Galang, a junior occupational therapy major. “People were receiving phone calls and left.”

Galang felt the tragedy impacted “not just people from New York City, but people from around the world.”

CSLE hosts community service opportunities every month. DiDomizio wants to “spread the love a little” in hopes the event will expand next year and serve other organizations in Buffalo.

Giselle Lam contributed reporting to this article

email: news@ubspectrum.com

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