Twenty-four years after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Philadelphia Eagles and the nonprofit organization 9/11 Day organized a large-scale meal packing event at Lincoln Financial Field. Volunteers gathered in the club level of the stadium to pack nearly 850,000 meals for Philabundance, a local hunger relief organization. This marks the fourth consecutive year that this event has taken place.
The day began with remarks from Ed Root and his daughter Emily Root Schenkel, who lost their relative Lorraine Bay on Flight 93 during the attacks. Bay was Ed’s first cousin and Emily’s aunt and Godmother. Both spoke about their ongoing efforts to honor those lost on 9/11.
“The importance for me is obviously to keep the memory of 9/11 and just to remember it. And personally, the idea of remembering it through acts of service is very powerful,” said Emily, who named her daughter Lorraine after her aunt. “Talking to my children about that day as I know a lot of people have, we focus on the decisions made out of love and service for others and try not to focus on the hate side of it so much.
“Seeing this day grow over the last four years and how many people come out in service to others is a really powerful way of paying tribute to all the people who lost their lives on 9/11.”
Lorraine Bay served as a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 93. The plane was hijacked by al-Qaida members with an intended target believed to be the U.S. Capitol Building. Passengers attempted to regain control before it crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania; all 44 onboard died.
Ed Root has been involved with commemorating those aboard Flight 93 through work with the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown, Somerset County. He served on its design selection panel while Emily currently sits on the board of Friends of Flight 93, which supports memorial operations.
In his remarks about Flight 93’s passengers and crew, Ed stated: “They had two things that people on the other planes and the ground didn’t have,” Ed said about those on the flight. “They had knowledge. Not a lot, but enough. And they had time. Not a lot, but enough. They used that knowledge and they used that time to implement a plan to stop maybe even a greater tragedy on the U.S. Capitol. The real thing with Flight 93 was that those people came together in such a short period of time as all the people today here are doing, coming together for service.”
Ed also reflected on generational differences in how Americans experience or remember September 11: “I like to call it the ‘us’ and ‘them’ of history,” Ed said. “On 9/11, those of us who lived through it, it happened to us. All the emotions, whether it was the confusion, the terror, the hate, the anger, whatever emotion that we felt will never go away, it happened to us. But now, 24 years later, there’s maybe a third of the country who was either not born or old enough to experience that. And to them, it’s part of history. It’s something that happened to them.
“Our challenge is to keep that memory alive and keep that understanding alive so that future generations will understand and not let it just become something that happened to them — some historic event in the deep dark past. So that’s the challenge we have today.”
Events like Thursday’s meal packing bring together participants from different backgrounds while honoring victims through community service efforts.
“I think (the meal packing is) very powerful in relation to keeping that memory alive and I appreciate that it has taken those feelings of obviously sadness and tragedy and anger and directed them towards service and helping others while also remembering that day and what happened that day instead of just it being like a story,” Emily said. “It brings it all together for me. It kind of makes it come full circle.”
Added Ed: “I think the important thing is the people who are involved in this who come here, the understanding is (it’s) more than just one day a year. I feel that goes forward, that you can have that appreciation and have that service. Today certainly is the focus, but it’s something that goes on long after today, so that’s a real key to success of all this ,and I think that’s very important.”
Both expressed pride working alongside an organization they support as longtime fans—Ed attended Philadelphia Eagles games since childhood—and emphasized how meaningful these annual events are for their family.
“To have something that I love as much as I do help me spread word about something else means so much… I’m very appreciative… that’s why I’ve been involved for four years,” Emily said.
