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| by Adina David, |
Sep 28, 2001 |
Among the hordes of volunteers donating time, goods, and their very blood after the September 11 tragedy were dozens of Stuyvesant students.
Despite having been so close to the horror, many Stuy students were eager to return to the area to help. Others served food, organized supplies, or just cheered on rescue workers. SU President and Chairman of the American Red Cross Queens Chapter Youth Group, Jukay Hsu, began working at his branch that very afternoon. He fielded phone calls about donations, helped establish a shelter at Shea Stadium with supplies and a rest area for workers, and took part in fundraisers at Queens Center.
On Thursday, September 13, Hsu visited Ground Zero with other Red Cross volunteers. “Our main purpose there was to get the rescue workers to come to Shea Stadium and rest, since many of them worked 20 hours a day and got very little sleep,” he said.
On Friday, junior Max Mecklenburg, energized by five cans of Red Bull energy drink, worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lower Manhattan’s P.S. 234. He was able to catch an emergency rescue vehicle (ERV) to Ground Zero. Mecklenburg went back for two consecutive days, eventually being turned away by the Red Cross because of his age.
Sunpei Okochi, a sophomore, also got close to the wreckage by going to the 66th Street Red Cross four days in a row. On the third day, Saturday, September 15, an ERV driver allowed him to come along and help hand out supplies to the “very tired, dust-covered, rescue workers,” according to Okochi. At the end of the day, “I was tired, but content at being able to have helped out,” said Okochi.
Stuyvesant football players, many in jerseys, donated their time at the Salvation Army and helped out on a boat called “Chefs with Spirit,” which was stationed at Chelsea Piers. Seven members, including seniors Nick Oxenhorn and Sergey Weinstein, were on the boat from midnight to 8 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, September 16. According to Oxenhorn, “Three of us served food, and four of us did blue collar-like chores to help on the boat.” According to Oxenhorn, the dinner guests included emergency workers and officers, many “traumatized by the way in which they found people in the wreckage.”
Many students wanted to assist in some way, but organizations were overwhelmed with volunteers. Sophomore Rebecca Fisher went with Collegiate School, a private school on the Upper West Side, to a Clarkson Street supply center near the West Side Highway to distribute food, clothes, buckets and other supplies. The center had so many volunteers that the Collegiate School was turned away. However, Fisher and other students were not discouraged and went back with signs to cheer on the rescue workers. “My sign said ‘Help make the world a better place’ and had pictures of fire trucks and American flags on it,” she said.
With significant time away from school, many students needed a distraction from the tragedy. Those who couldn’t get to Manhattan helped out local organizations.
Senior Lawrence Bianco assisted with food donations at Zion Lutheran Church on Staten Island on Saturday, September 15. “The sandwiches we made got sent to the work site along with bottled water, socks, and other goods.” He continued, “It wasn’t much, but if everyone does a little, it adds up.”
Stuyvesant football players, many in jerseys, donated their time at the Salvation Army and helped out on a boat called “Chefs with Spirit,” which was stationed at Chelsea Piers. Seven members, including seniors Nick Oxenhorn and Sergey Weinstein, were on the boat from midnight to 8 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, September 16. According to Oxenhorn, “Three of us served food, and four of us did blue collar-like chores to help on the boat.” According to Oxenhorn, the dinner guests included emergency workers and officers, many “traumatized by the way in which they found people in the wreckage.”
Many students wanted to assist in some way, but organizations were overwhelmed with volunteers. Sophomore Rebecca Fisher went with Collegiate School, a private school on the Upper West Side, to a Clarkson Street supply center near the West Side Highway to distribute food, clothes, buckets and other supplies. The center had so many volunteers that the Collegiate School was turned away. However, Fisher and other students were not discouraged and went back with signs to cheer on the rescue workers. “My sign said ‘Help make the world a better place’ and had pictures of fire trucks and American flags on it,” she said.
With significant time away from school, many students needed a distraction from the tragedy. Those who couldn’t get to Manhattan helped out local organizations.
Senior Lawrence Bianco assisted with food donations at Zion Lutheran Church on Staten Island on Saturday, September 15. “The sandwiches we made got sent to the work site along with bottled water, socks, and other goods.” He continued, “It wasn’t much, but if everyone does a little, it adds up.”
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