County Honors Sept. 11 Victims With a Day to Serve + Remember

Four Westchester residents who now dedicate themselves to helping save lives were recognized this week as part of the county’s annual effort to increase volunteerism this weekend.

Westchester’s annual 9/11 Serve + Remember effort, organized by Volunteer New York! allows residents to choose from a variety of projects this weekend in memory of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 14 years ago.

“Each year our efforts are getting bigger and bigger and yet the goal remains the same: we come together each year as a community to honor the memory of those lost on that horrific day 14 years ago,” County Executive Rob Astorino said in White Plains on Tuesday to publicize the Serve + Remember initiative.

“We do so by replacing grief with giving, by letting go of our anger and taking action, by restoring love where there was once loss. The volunteers that join us each year speak to the strength that is Westchester County.”

Theresa Tippin of Cortlandt, a 10-year member of the Mohegan Volunteer Fire Association, Howard Romanoff of Armonk, an organ transplant recipient and donor advocate, and White Plains residents Michael Welling, a bone marrow donor advocate, and Arthur Bonagura, one of the county’s most prolific blood donors, told their stories outside the County Center to emphasize how giving back can improve quality of life in communities throughout Westchester and save lives.

Tippin, who has answered well over 2,000 fire calls during the past decade and as many as 280 in one year, said no matter how a person chooses to help, someone will be positively impacted.

In addition to serving as a firefighter, Tippin volunteers at Yorktown’s Love in Action, a nonprofit organization that assists families who have been stricken by unforeseen tragedies.

“I think it’s just the humanitarian act of helping others in what might be the worst times in their lives,” Tippin said. “To be a support system to them in any way is very fulfilling for me.”

Two of the volunteers were moved into action because their life or the life of a loved one was saved because of anonymous donors.

In 2007, Romanoff was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a disease that required a double-lung transplant. He waited four years, hoping that a match would be found before he died. Today, he is healthy and active and has become an ardent donor advocate, working to educate the public of the need to sign up. One donor can save up to eight lives.

New York ranks last among the 50 states in percentage of its population that have signed up, he said.

“Being on the organ donor list is not knowing whether you’re waiting for a live-saving organ or waiting to die,” Romanoff said. “It’s very clear to me all the pain, suffering, frustration and anxiety of waiting is unnecessary. The medical science to eliminate the time and cost of waiting is there, the organs are not.”

White Plains resident Michael Welling and his wife, Susie, were told that their son Matthew at six months old would need a bone marrow transplant in order to survive cancer. A donor was quickly found but doctors told the Wellings that their child needed a second transplant. A second donor was found. Today, Matthew is a healthy nine-year-old starting the fourth grade.

“We are lucky to stand up here today to tell Matthew’s story to inspire others to get up, volunteer, get involved and make a difference of their own,” Welling said.

A wide variety of service projects are available for people who want to help on Sept. 11 and throughout the weekend, said Alisa Kesten, executive director of Volunteer New York! Many of the projects are to assist veterans, first responders and the needy, she said.

A blood drive takes place Friday afternoon at the County Center from 2 to 6 p.m.

“When we hear these people and the way they took time to volunteer together, each of us stands up once again to terrorism, we stand up stronger and more resolute,” Kesten said. “It’s just this spirit of volunteerism that presented itself in the days following 9/11 and that helps us restore our faith in humanity to each other and it allows us to begin the healing process.”

Astorino stressed that the public doesn’t need to wait until the anniversary of Sept. 11 to volunteer. Help is needed by innumerable organizations all year long.

To register for service projects this weekend or for more information about how you can help throughout the year, call 914-948-4452 or visit www.volunteernewyork.org/service.