Demolition expert John Feal first showed up to volunteer at Ground Zero the day after 9/11 to help with the recovery.  He stayed and worked six straight days, until an 8,000-pound steel beam fell and smashed his left foot. He spent months in hospitals and endured multiple operations. At one point he nearly died.  But he is still volunteering in memory of 9/11 and says he always will: "I am one of the lucky ones who is still alive."  Feal is one of millions across the country who plan to take part in the National Day of Service and Remembrance on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the crash of a hijacked plane in Shanksville, Pa.  "When there is such a large extent of evil, something needs to counterbalance it," says David Paine, co-founder of MyGoodDeed Inc., one of the official organizers of the National Day of Service and Remembrance. "We want to use this day to make sure those 3,000 lives were not lost in vain and that we pay tribute to many others who rose to service in response to those acts."  Organizers hope the day will mark the biggest community service event ever. A database listing of volunteer opportunities by location can be found at mygooddeed.org.  As part of its coverage of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, USA TODAY is spotlighting outstanding service. Feal and three others share stories about volunteer work that helps them move beyond that tragic day.  John Feal, advocate for sick first responders  Feal put his home phone number on the FealGood Foundation website when he founded the non-profit organization in 2005. He wanted it to be easy to find him. And easy to get help.  He has dedicated himself to raising awareness and money for first responders who were injured or got sick after 9/11. He believes many have been denied disability money due them.  Feal made 91 trips to Washington from his home in Nesconset, N.Y., to push lawmakers to pass the Zadroga bill. The passage in December 2010 established the World Trade Center Health Program and ensured $2.7 billon in funding to treat medical ailments of eligible first responders.  Feal's foundation gives money and support to responder families. "We do whatever we can," he says. "Some might need a wheelchair. We get them that. Someone needed oxygen, and we got them oxygen."  Feal has organized numerous 10th-anniversary events, but his proudest moment will be the unveiling in Nesconset of the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park for those who have died since 9/11 from illnesses connected to cleanup work.  His own mending continues. His foot injury led to back problems, and he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Still, he says, "I haven't taken a single pill. My foundation is my therapy.  "My mother would take the shirt off her back for strangers. That's how I want to live."  David Paine, in memory of a friend  Paine started a 9/11 non-profit foundation in 2002 with his friend Jay Winuk, whose brother, Glenn, died on 9/11.  An attorney whose office was near the World Trade Center, Glenn Winuk was also an emergency medical technician. After the planes hit, he ran into the south tower. His body was found in the rubble six months later.  "I wanted to see if we could come up with a way to pay tribute to Glenn and everyone who lost their lives," says Paine, who was born in New York City and worked there before moving to California.  After seeing a story about how the New York Mets were giving back, his idea started to jell. "They were donating a day's wages to support the relief effort," he says. "I thought, 'You know . . . we don't have to donate a day's wages, but maybe a day's payment of service.'  by Todd Plitt, USA TODAY  U.S. Army Major, Michael Erwin has done three tours of duty in Middle East war zones and currently teaches at West Point, heads a non profit organization named 'Team Red White and Blue,' that runs to help raise awareness for injured veterans.  "I called Jay and said, 'What do you think about creating a way we all pay tribute annually by doing good deeds and helping one another?'"  They started MyGoodDeed Inc. and led a campaign to establish 9/11 as an annual day of service and remembrance. Both saw the dream come true when President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act legislation on April 21, 2009.  Paine says 9/11 "reordered my priorities." He urges Americans to "help in any way you can."  Michael Erwin, running and reflection  Michael Erwin was a senior cadet at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., on the morning of 9/11 when his brother, also at West Point, gave him the news.  "It was a surreal moment," he says. "My brother called and said, 'Have you heard? Turn on the television. We're under attack.' West Point went into immediate shutdown, security mode. We all knew at that moment our futures had changed."  Erwin served three tours of duty with the U.S. Army, one in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. His losses mounted: Several hundred soldiers in his units were killed or wounded.  His resolve to help grew. He recently completed a two-year psychology degree and is a West Point instructor. To mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, his non-profit group, Team Red, White and Blue, is sponsoring several endurance runs — in Shanksville, Pa.; on the C&O Canal in Washington; at West Point; and on military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq — to raise awareness about and support for wounded veterans.  Erwin will carry the U.S. flag he took to both wars, leading the 55-mile run starting at West Point on Sept. 10 and stopping on Sept. 11 at Liberty State Park, N.J. They'll meet with other runners and hold a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., when the north tower was hit. He's encouraging others, no matter where they live, to dedicate their walk, run or bike ride on 9/11 by joining with TeamRWB.org efforts.  His ultimate goal is to find volunteers willing to spend time with wounded veterans and transform how they are reintegrated into society. "A lot of these veterans cannot take the first step," he says. "They have sacrificed so much and suffered traumatic injuries, whether physical or emotional.  "They willingly signed up. They raised their hands to volunteer for America."  Gwynne Guibord, service for many faiths  The Rev. Gwynne Guibord could not take her eyes off the burning towers when she saw 9/11 unfolding on television. "It was a moment of abject horror," she says.  And it hit home. As a consultant for the Episcopal church for interreligious relations, she often traveled from her home in Los Angeles to Boston, taking the same flight home that carried the terrorists. She watched the dark, billowing smoke and thought, "There but for the grace of God go I."  Guibord worried that Americans would seek revenge. It didn't take long.  On Sept. 15, Balbir Singh Sodhi became the nation's first post-9/11 victim of a hate crime. Wearing a long beard and turban, as prescribed by his Sikh faith, he was gunned down in Mesa, Ariz. His killer told police he was lashing out at "Arabs" after watching the twin towers collapse over and over again on TV. Singh Sodhi was born in Punjab, India.  Guibord is still saddened recalling that hate crime and others that followed. Her response: to bring together people of different faiths.  Her non-profit Guibord Center is holding an eight-faith service on 9/11 called Finding Hope in the Holy, at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral in Los Angeles It will involve Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Bahai'i and indigenous faiths. Each will be represented by a person singing a lamentation and another reading a prayer of hope from their religion. "This service connects my understanding of God and, as a Christian, of my following the teachings of Jesus," she says. "We have been created in our diversity to learn from one another. If we truly say that we love God, or however we define the holy, it is simply not possible to then hate another human being."
Citizens honor the day in service so that those who were lost will have not died in vain.