September 3, 2009
DCSEC AND GREATER DC CARES PARTNER
TO HOST 9/11 SERVICE EVENT AT RFK STADIUM
Greater DC Cares and Serve DC also offer District residents additional volunteer opportunities at several locations during week of September 11th
Washington, D.C. – The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission and Greater DC Cares announced today that on Friday, September 11, 2009, RFK Stadium will host Operation Kid Comfort, Greater DC Cares’ signature service project on the inaugural 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.
“We are thrilled to partner with DC Sports and Entertainment Commission to elevate the visibility of such an important event,” said Dr. Madye Henson, President and CEO of Greater DC Cares. “The 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance will help rekindle the spirit of unity and support that was felt in the aftermath of that tragic day by bringing people together in service and remembrance.”
RFK Stadium will host more than 200 volunteers who will work with the Armed Services YMCA’s Operation Kid Comfort program, creating nearly 100 personalized photo-transfer quilts and pillows for the children of deployed servicemen and women. These items will incorporate a variety of family photos featuring the deployed parent. The quilt or pillow will then be given to the child to play with, sleep with, or use to comfort them from the grief of missing their deployed parent.
“The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission is proud to be a partner in hosting this special service project at RFK Stadium and to join individuals around the nation in answering President Obama’s call to service,” said Erik A. Moses, CEO of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission. “RFK has hosted a number of impactful service projects in the past, including “A Day of Service for Our Military” in January when volunteers assembled 85,000 care packages for U.S. troops serving overseas.”
As the leading and largest coordinator of volunteerism in the region, Greater DC Cares is organizing more than 50 nonprofit sites across the region where more than 2,200 volunteers will answer President Obama’s United We Serve national call to service on September 11th. At sites across the region, Greater DC Cares participants will make burn kits, distribute information for blood donations, beautify parks and green spaces, serve meals to the hungry, restore our national monuments, organize public libraries and much more.
Serve DC – The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism – is providing volunteers, support and assisting in the coordination and promotion of the Operation Kid Comfort project at RFK Stadium. Serve DC has engaged District residents in meaningful service projects throughout the summer as part of President Barack Obama’s United We Serve initiative, which was launched on June 22nd and culminates with several events the week of September 11th.
This inaugural 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance event is being sponsored by Walmart, Fannie Mae, IBM, Network Solutions, UN Foundation, Washington Gas, CBeyond, Cresa Partners, HPTi, Raffa, P.C., Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, Hands On Network, Washington Post Media and ABC 7/WJLA-TV, who are committing their support and employees to help transform a day that began in sorrow into an incredible day of remembrance and service.
Sodexo, Inc., the food and beverage concessionaire for RFK Stadium, is supporting this important project by donating lunch for all volunteers assisting with Operation Kid Comfort at the stadium.
Individuals interested in volunteering for the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance or learning more about volunteer opportunities in the D.C. area can visit www.greaterdccares.org or www.serve.dc.gov.
CONTACTS:
Teri Washington, DCSEC (202-494-5737)
Rebecca Stirrett, DCSEC (202-503-5622)
Sarah Fleischer, Greater DC Cares (202-777-4452)
Emily Batchelder, Serve DC (202-727-7972) |
