Goody Good Deeds

Pass this to as many people as you can.Make wonder why I have not heard about it on the news sounds like everyone wants.

NEW YORK - Sept. 11, Jacob Sundberg of San Antonio is committed to make eye contact and smile to everyone he meets. Kaitlin Ulrich will bring goody baskets to the police and fire in and around Philadelphia. And 100 volunteers from New York - 11/09 firefighters and family members among them - will Groesbeck, Texas, to rebuild a house destroyed by a tornado last December.

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This is a minute of sampling hundreds of thousands of people who are committed to the memory of those killed on 9 / 11 by doing something good for others.

The heroic acts of all those killed trying to save others this morning in September gave birth to a movement increasingly popular. The objective is to ensure that future generations remember not only the horror of the attacks, but also the extraordinary outpouring of humanity during the days, weeks and months that followed.

"It was the worst day imaginable, and in some respects, a remarkable day, too, in how people responded," said David Paine, co-founder of myGoodDeed.org. "We need to revive how we came together in the spirit of 9 / 11: It would be almost as much a tragedy to lose that lesson. "

Sept. 11 has inspired dozens of philanthropic efforts - from groups dedicated to building memorials to foundations designed to improve education in the Middle East. But myGoodDeed has a more universal goal: to turn 9 / 11 in a day devoted to doing good - from simple things like Lisa Scheive pledge to help stranded turtles cross the road in Pompano Beach, Florida, rescue efforts, such as John Feal's decision in New York to give a kidney to help a seriously ill 9 / 11 workers.

The idea was approved by members of Congress, and myGoodDeed's insistence, President Bush for the first time this year included a call for volunteering in his annual 9 / 11 proclamation.

After major disasters, Americans have always operated a deep reserve of compassion and reaching out to others. But in the months and years that follow, those compassionate and civic urges tend to fade. Studies at Harvard Saguaro Seminar on Civic Engagement in America found that in as little as five months after 9 / 11, most Americans had returned to their daily lives and are not more engaged as they said that They had hoped to be. Part of the goal of turning 9 / 11 a national day of service is to remind Americans of the inherent joy of giving and hope to encourage volunteerism and charitable acts throughout the year.

"I do not know of any research that was done on a day of service, but studies have shown that people who do volunteering in high school are more likely to volunteer throughout their lives" says Thomas Sander, executive director of the Saguaro Seminar.

The idea of turning 9 / 11 into a day of service, charity and good deeds from the family and friends of a man: Glenn Winuk, a volunteer fireman and lawyer who worked a block and a half World Trade Center. After helping evacuate his Broadway law offices, he grabbed a medical bag and ran toward the smoke coming from the South Tower. This is where his remains were found after the towers fell. Mr. Paine and Glenn's brother Jay had been friends for years. They decided to turn 9 / 11 as a day of service was the best way to honor the memory of Glenn.

"It fully reflects the way my brother lived his life, and it also reflects exactly how he died," said Winuk, myGoodDeed.org cofounder. "He gave his life on the line for other p.