9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance

Americans don't remember many dates from our history classes.

Years, maybe.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

We went to the moon in 1969.

"In fourteen-hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..."

But there's one date that we didn't learn in history class, a date where we all remember exactly where we were.

And that date is 9/11.

Today, in honor of the many innocents who died--at ground zero, in the Pentagon, in a small field in Pennsylvania--Americans are observing a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Led by the 9/11 non-profit MyGoodDeed, 9/11 families and others worked for more than seven years to establish September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance -- finally securing passage of legislation in April 2009, within the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which authorized the creation of the 9/11 observance. Since that time, MyGoodDeed has organized an unprecedented coalition of organizations that have come together to engage not only Americans, but people from around the world.

Since its inception in 2002, supporters of MyGoodDeed have pledged to perform more than a million acts of service, spanning all 50 states and some 170 countries and territories. This year, tens of thousands have visited the organization’s website, 911dayofservice.org, since its early August launch to pledge their good deeds. Thousands have also posted their service plans for 9/11 at the federal government’s volunteer service website, serve.gov.

MyGoodDeed has also announced that it will host an exhibit on the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance under the Tents at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, where it will also launch an online auction for charity, featuring donations from top designers including Donna Karan, Tracy Reese, Carmen Marc Valvo, Phillip Lim, Vivenne Tam, Tommy Hilfiger and many others. More information on the auction can be found at www.911dayofservice.com/runway.