Some Lessons Are Too Important to Forget
What We Planted: The Seeds of Service for 9/11 Day 2026 Impact Report Planting the Lessons of 9/11 in a New Generation.
At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2026, the hallways of Hempstead High School went quiet.
The students sitting still in their classrooms weren't born when the towers fell. By the end of the day, they had heard the story from people who lived through it, and they later begun carrying it forward themselves.
Twenty-five years after September 11, a new generation came together to honor the past by serving others.
Funded by 9/11 Day and AmeriCorps, Seeds of Service for 9/11 Day brought remembrance, resilience, gratitude and service to more than 1,500 students at Hempstead High School and Joseph A. McNeil Elementary School. Students listened to 9/11 survivor and SERVENYS founder Anthony "AJ" Knight and to Dawn Gonzales, who lost her sister Janine in the World Trade Center. They wrote messages of thanks on a Remembrance & Gratitude Wall and talked openly about grief and resilience. Then they assembled 775 care packages, which went to youth shelters, families and young mothers across Nassau County.
The report below tells that story in photos, numbers and the students' own words:
1,500+ students engaged across two schools
775 care packages assembled by students, plus customized support for Covenant House New York
6 schools and community organizations served
Nassau County proclaimed September 11, 2026, Seeds of Service Day
We're grateful to every student, teacher, partner and neighbor who made this possible.
Read the full impact report below.
This 2026 Impact Report captures the voices, moments, partnerships, and collective acts of kindness that brought the initiative to life — reminding us that the lessons of September 11 are not only meant to be remembered, but carried forward.
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