Post 9-11 Anniversary Post: The Heart of the Volunteer

Over the weekend, I, like many Americans, read stories and watched film clips and remembered ten years ago: who I was, where I was, what I felt, what others must have felt. Ultimately, of course, these things are unimportant. Secondary. My personal sense of loss was nothing compared to those whose loved ones were on the planes or in the towers or at the Pentagon.

Today, on September 12, I don’t want to talk about what we’ve lost. I want to talk about what we’ve gained.

Being immersed in the volunteer world as I am, sometimes I forget what makes a volunteer so special. A volunteer is someone who freely gives of him or herself for the sake of someone else. In doing so, they find that they are made better as well.

Sometimes, there is great cost.

343 firefighters and paramedics were killed volunteering their services and themselves for others on 9/11. 23 NYPD police officers. 37 Port Authority police officers. And countless others, regular people.

At the heart of the volunteer is something more powerful than any terrorist act or any deliberate evil. At the heart of the volunteer is what at once makes us human and reminds us of our humanity. At the heart of the volunteer is love.

In the year after 9/11 Peace Corps applications increased by 50 percent. As we move in to a new decade, let us be inspired by those who have gone before us and shown us what it means to give of oneself. Let us cultivate this spirit every day so that it is not tragedy that defines us, but love.