WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — About 40 football players for De La Salle Collegiate High School, coaches, and other school staff spent the morning of 9/11 participating in a day of service to the community as a way to honor the lives lost on 9/11.
None of the students may have been alive during the 2001 attacks on the United States, but they are aware of the impact on the nation and decided to spend the day with shovels, brooms, and protective gloves, cleaning up areas of Warren.
"We all love to be out here, helping to give back to the community," said Seth Ray, class of 2022.
"It's good to be out here to support our city. They support us with whatever we do," said Michael Bucci, class of 2022. "It's good to give back to them."
Having lost two friends in the towers, 9/11 is a difficult day for Larry Rancilio, President at De La Salle Collegiate High School, as he remembers the police officers, firefighters, and others who died while trying to save others.
"Service is part of what we preach to our to our young men and they really take a hold of what we're saying," Rancilio said. "So it's not hard to get them mobilized for a good cause, especially to help out the community."
Today's cleanup event was organized by community members Marta Rhea-Johnson and Jocelyn Howard.
"What I saw today was young people who were engaged, who were excited, who felt it was their responsibility to be a servant to their community," Howard said. "I was jumping up and down inside and could have probably done flips when I saw just the amount of effort that went into doing this."
