Girls Battling Cancer Honor 9/11 Victims, Visit Memorial

Donning green shirts and pink hats, about 100 young girls battling cancer visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum on Monday afternoon for a special event allowing them to commemorate and learn about the history of 9/11.

The campers from Chai Lifeline’s Camp Simcha, accompanied by medical and support staff, first attended a short presentation about Sept. 11 at the World Financial Center, where they listened to some first responders discuss their experiences from that day.

Then, they visited the memorial, placing flags around the site to honor the victims of 9/11, as well as the Survivor Tree, which was damaged at Ground Zero on 9/11 and subsequently recovered and rehabilitated.

“Our trip to the 9/11 Memorial was such a meaningful experience,” said Shaindy Lowenthal, program director for Camp Simcha. “Our special campers – heroes and survivors battling cancer, accompanied by NYPD, PAPD and FDNY heroes – shared feelings of support and heroism by tying gold ribbons with personalized messages on the Survivor Tree between the Memorial fountains. In addition, they placed American flags at the names of heroes they recognized in the memorial itself.”

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate